Superimpose Material Deprivation Study on Poverty Old Age People in Hong Kong Study

Kee Lee Chou*, Siu Yau Lee

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

8 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Due to a range of shortcomings of income-based measures of poverty in older people, an alternative approach is proposed to counteract those shortcomings. Hong Kong index of material deprivation aims to identify a consensus-based list of goods and services that are necessities in society and to establish that these goods and services are not available due to their lack of affordability. This paper reports on the validation of Hong Kong index of material deprivation based on an approach proposed by Townsend (Poverty in the United Kingdom, Penguin Books, London, 1979) in Hong Kong. Through a survey of 2339 older Chinese people aged 65 and older, we found that a broad consensus regarding the necessities in their daily lives exists and Hong Kong index of material deprivation is a reliable and valid measure of poverty because its reliability and validity is good and acceptable. Finally, we have shown that the overlap between the poor in terms of income and the deprived is moderate and the profiles of those who are core poor (both poor in terms of income and the deprived) are more similar to those who are deprived than those who are poor in terms of income. Hong Kong index of material deprivation index has been developed, which offers a supplementary measure of poverty other than income poor and provides future avenues for improved understandings of poverty in old age.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1015-1036
Number of pages22
JournalSocial Indicators Research
Volume139
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Oct 2018

Scopus Subject Areas

  • Developmental and Educational Psychology
  • Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)
  • Sociology and Political Science
  • Social Sciences(all)

User-Defined Keywords

  • Hong Kong
  • Material deprivation
  • Older people
  • Poverty

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