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

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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.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by Research Grant Council Strategic Public Policy Research (HKIEd 7001-SPPR-11) and the Humanities and Social Sciences Prestigious Fellowship Scheme (38600214).

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  1. Department of Asian and Policy Studies, The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

    Kee-Lee Chou & Siu-Yau Lee

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  1. Kee-Lee Chou
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  2. Siu-Yau Lee
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Correspondence to Kee-Lee Chou.

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Chou, KL., Lee, SY. Superimpose Material Deprivation Study on Poverty Old Age People in Hong Kong Study. Soc Indic Res 139, 1015–1036 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-017-1740-z

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