A Survey of Asset Poverty Among Older Adults of Hong Kong

Despite its highly developed economy and modernized outlook, Hong Kong has a surprisingly severe poverty problem, especially among the aged. While income poverty among Hong Kong’s elderly has been widely acknowledged and extensively investigated, this study examines asset poverty using survey data of 4306 Hong Kong residents aged 60 or above. To investigate the link between asset poverty and income poverty, the income-poverty threshold is taken as being half the median household income, adjusted by the square root of household size; the asset poor are defined as those whose household assets are inadequate to cover their basic needs for a period of three months. Factors associated with the asset poverty of Hong Kong’s elderly are also examined. This study provides valuable information concerning asset poverty among older adults in an Asian society (namely, Hong Kong) and contributes to the literature on asset poverty, in which estimates of asset poverty are available only for the general population of some Western countries. Policy implications of the findings are discussed, and an asset-building approach is recommended.