BACKGROUND NOTE
SOCIAL PROGRESS IN HONG KONG
1. Hong Kong is frequently criticised in this country because
it does not have the same range and standard of social services
as the UK. However, it is difficult to draw valid comparisons
between a developed, Western industrial country and a densely
populated Asian territory which has been forced to give first
priority over the past 30 years to the problems created by the
sevenfold expansion of its population, largely through immigration
from China. The publicly declared policy of the Hong Kong
Government is to ensure that social services in the territory
are equal to the best available in any of the countries in the
region apart from Japan. Spending on the social services now
accounts for 40% of Hong Kong Government expenditure.
2. The principal elements of the Hong Kong social development
programme are:
Housing
3. Hong Kong's population has increased from 600,000 in 1945 to
over 4.7 million today. The Government housing programme, launched
in 1954, has so far provided homes for more than 2 million people.
New public housing is now being built at a rate of over 30,000 units
sufficient to house some 200,000 people. The intention
a year
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had been to provide public housing for 65% of the anticipated
population by the mid-1980s and then maintain it at that level.
It was thought that this would meet the full demand for subsidised
Government accommodation. However, this programme is now being
threatened by the continuing very high levels of immigration from
China. There has also been a slight lowering of the targets because
of the strains that were being placed on the Hong Kong economy by
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