Nearly half of members of ethnic minority groups in Hong Kong jobless during peak of Covid-19 fifth wave, survey finds
- Survey by Hong Kong Unison finds members of ethnic minority groups have monthly household income that is less than half of most similar-sized families in city
- There are about 620,000 non-Chinese people in Hong Kong, about 8 per cent of the city’s total population
Nearly half of members of ethnic minority groups in Hong Kong were jobless during the fifth wave of the coronavirus pandemic, with some having to survive on savings or by borrowing money, according to a survey released on Tuesday.
In a survey conducted by Hong Kong Unison, an organisation that advocates for ethnic minority groups, 48.9 per cent of 937 people in the demographic interviewed between early March and mid-April said they were unemployed.
“The unemployment problem is very serious,” said John Tse Wing-ling, the group’s executive director. “We hope the Employees Retraining Board can offer more training courses in English and the government should also consider setting up short-term unemployment relief to support those being laid off.”
The survey also found that almost 80 per cent of respondents’ families had a need for electronic devices, as many children in ethnic minority communities lived in poverty and lacked access to such devices for online learning.
“They really do not have enough devices for online teaching. Let’s say if one family has a few kids, but they only get one device, how can these children be able to have online classes?” Tse said.
The respondents, with an average household size of 4.8 people, have an average monthly household income of HK$20,000 (US$2,548).
Comparatively, the median monthly household income in Hong Kong among families with five people was HK$56,600 from January to March this year.
