abstract: 'In-work poverty is becoming an important category of poverty in many

  developed economies, where labour polarization and income disparity have

  trapped in poverty a growing number of people, particularly low-skilled

  workers, despite their active participation in the labour force. In Hong

  Kong, the government has acknowledged the seriousness of the problem and

  has made the working poor one of the main target groups of its poverty

  reduction strategy. Existing studies have identified various individual,

  employment and household factors that contribute to the poverty risk of

  households with working members. These factors operate through three

  mechanisms: low earnings, the lack of other earners in the household and

  high living costs related to the care of dependent members in the

  household. The relative importance of these mechanisms varies according

  to the socio-economic contexts of different societies. In order to

  formulate an effective poverty reduction policy, it is necessary to

  understand which mechanisms lead to in-work poverty in a local context.

  In this paper, we sought to identify the characteristics of households

  affected by in-work poverty, and the mechanisms that lead to such

  poverty, by analysing a data sample from the 2011 Hong Kong Population

  Census. The results show that low-paid work and the absence of a second

  earner in the household are the two main mechanisms that lead to in-work

  poverty in Hong Kong. The results also show that the risk of in-work

  poverty differs for high- and low-skilled labour. We propose that the

  government should strengthen the poverty reduction strategy by

  countering the income disparity in the labour market and adopting an

  integrated approach in the formulation of policy to improve the labour

  participation of working-poor households.'
affiliation: 'Cheung, KCK (Corresponding Author), Hong Kong Inst Educ, Dept Asian
  \& Policy Studies, Tai Po, Hong Kong, Peoples R China.

  Cheung, Kelvin Chi-Kin; Chou, Kee-Lee, Hong Kong Inst Educ, Dept Asian \& Policy
  Studies, Tai Po, Hong Kong, Peoples R China.'
author: Cheung, Kelvin Chi-Kin and Chou, Kee-Lee
author-email: cheungchk@ied.edu.hk
author_list:
- family: Cheung
  given: Kelvin Chi-Kin
- family: Chou
  given: Kee-Lee
da: '2023-09-28'
doi: 10.1007/s11205-015-1104-5
eissn: 1573-0921
files: []
issn: 0303-8300
journal: SOCIAL INDICATORS RESEARCH
keywords: 'In-work poverty; Income disparity; Labour polarization; Labour

  participation; Hong Kong'
keywords-plus: EUROPEAN-UNION; POVERTY; EARNINGS; IMMIGRANTS; INEQUALITY; WELFARE
language: English
month: OCT
number: '1'
number-of-cited-references: '52'
orcid-numbers: Chou, Kee Lee/0000-0003-3627-9915
pages: 317-335
papis_id: 62dd0452f1d298f1d0d192daac6637a5
ref: Cheung2016workingpoor
researcherid-numbers: 'Chou, Kee Lee/B-5434-2015

  '
times-cited: '9'
title: Working Poor in Hong Kong
type: Article
unique-id: WOS:000383154200018
usage-count-last-180-days: '1'
usage-count-since-2013: '27'
volume: '129'
web-of-science-categories: Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary; Sociology
year: '2016'