Oxfam announced its Hong Kong Living Wage Report today, which put forth the first local living wage rate: HK$54.7/hour. The agency is now calling on the government and employers who are able to pay their employers a living wage, as the current minimum wage has not been able to keep up with inflation and does not take the basic needs of employees’ families into account…

The study was conducted by Oxfam Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies’ Centre for Quality of Life at the Chinese University of Hong Kong…The aim of the study was to understand working families’ cost of living to calculate a living wage rate…The study found that the basic monthly household expenditure for a one-person family in 2017 was HK$10,494 to HK$11,548, and HK$19,935 to HK$21,156 for a three-person family…1.07 million employees (excluding government employees) earned less than a living wage. Nearly 60 per cent (58 per cent) of these employees worked in the import and export, retail, food, property management, security and cleaning industries.

Kalina Tsang, Head of Oxfam’s Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan Programme,, said: ‘Working poverty has become a serious issue. The reason why life is hard for low-income workers is because minimum wage is only reviewed every two years, and only increases in tiny increments. Not only does it not keep up with inflation, but it also doesn’t guarantee workers and their families their basic needs…We believe paying employees a living wage is part of a company’s corporate social responsibility...’…

Oxfam plans to partner with the business sector and NGOs to promote the Living Wage Movement in Hong Kong and establish a foundation that recognises employers who are willing to pay a living wage through an accreditation scheme…