XN000022-1995-11-29 — Page 52

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Censuses and figures on household income

Following is a question by the Hon Tsang Kin-shing and a reply by the Secretary for Financial Services, Mr Rafael Hui, in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday):

Question:

At present the Census and Statistics Department conducts a population census every ten years and a by-census every five years, using the Gini coefficient to indicate diversity in household income distribution. Will the Government inform this Council:

(a) whether, in the face of a continuing rise in value of the Gini coefficient in recent years which points to a widening gap between the rich and the poor, the Government has analysed the reasons behind this phenomenon, and what measures the Government has put in place to improve the situation;

(b) whether the Government will consider shortening the interval between censuses to ensure that the relevant figures on household income are updated more regularly; and

(c) whether the Government will conduct longitudinal studies on certain families, such as families which are long-term comprehensive social security assistance recipients, families consisting of people with long-term unemployment or underemployment problems, families with handicapped member(s), families of new immigrants, low-income families and so on, so that the situation of social mobility can be reflected; if not, what the reasons are?

Reply:

Mr President,

In response to the Honourable Tsang Kin-shing's question which comprises 3 parts, the reply below accordingly is divided into 3 parts. Since part 1 covers a very broad area, the reply is correspondingly longer.