TNAG-0231-FCO40-267-Conditions-of-employment-of-labour-force-in-Hong-Kong-1970 — Page 71

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Tuesday, July 28, 1970

Using these two indices, it was possible to calculate that, in the last six years, the standard of living had risen from 100 to 132, an increase of 32 per cent. In other words, an employee could now buy in

1970 with his prosent wages nearly one third more than he could afford to buy in 1964 with the wages which he received then,

Again, Mr. Hetherington explained that the increase of 32 per cent in the standard of living was an average and the improvement was not

uniform in all industries. Because the rise in the cost of living was

generally the same for all, some employees were materially better off than others although all now enjoyed a better standard of living than they

did in 1964.

An important point to take into account, when comparing the se improvements with those which employees elsewhere in the world may have received, is that in Hong Kong few industrial employees are liable for any forms of direct taxation and for compulsory deductions from their wages. Consequently, the higher wages have embled wage-earners to use their earnings, in whatever way they themselves have chosen to improve their

individual standards of living.

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