Social Security Policy in Hong Kong: From British Colony to China's Special Administrative Region

230 Pages·2011·2.487 MB·English

by  Chak Kwan Chan

Social Security Policy in Hong Kong

Social Security Policy in
Hong Kong

From British Colony to China’s
Special Administrative Region

Chak Kwan Chan

LEXINGTON BOOKS
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Chan, Chak Kwan.
Social security policy in Hong Kong : from British colony to China's special
administrative region / Chak Kwan Chan.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-7391-4954-6 (cloth : alk. paper)—ISBN 978-0-7391-4956-0 (electronic)
1. Social security—China—Hong Kong. 2. Public welfare—China—Hong Kong. 3.
Hong Kong (China)—Social policy. 4. Hong Kong (China)—Economic policy. 5.
China—Social policy. 6. China—Economic policy. I. Title.
HD7233.C43 2011
361.95125—dc23
2011024573

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American
National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library
Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

Printed in the United States of America
Social Security Policy in Hong Kong:
From British Colony to China’s Special
Administrative Region

Chak Kwan Chan
For My Lord and My Family
Contents

List of Tables ix
Abbreviations xi
Preface xiii
1 Hong Kong Social Policy & Chinese Welfare Ideologies 1
2 Co-optive Politics & Welfare Constraints 11
3 Legitimacy & Chinese Welfare Ideologies 25
4 Traditional Chinese Welfare Ideologies 37
5 Social Security & Chinese Welfare Ideologies Before 1945 61
6 Social Security & Chinese Welfare Ideologies: 83
1945-1967
7 Social Security & Chinese Welfare Ideologies: 111
1968-1997
8 Postcolonial Polity & Welfare Approach 137
9 Postcolonial Social Security & Chinese Welfare Ideologies 153
10 Chinese Welfare Ideologies & Hong Kong’s 171
Capitalism
Bibliography 183
Index 209

vii

Tables

2.1 General Revenue and Fiscal Reserves, 1960-61 to 1981-82 19
2.2 1992 National Tax Rates 21
3.1 Taxation as a Percentage of GDP, 1995 30
5.1 Hong Kong Population and Male-to-Female Ratios 64
6.1 Growth in Factories and Workers, 1947-1978 91
6.2 Some Influential Kaifongs’ Social Services, 1972 96
6.3 Squatter Fires and Victims, 1948-1954 97
6.4 Distribution of Chinese Families in Hong Kong by Size in 101
1954
6.5 Personal Monthly Income Levels by Age 102
6.6 Suicide and Parasuicide Cases, 1959-1960 103
7.1 The LegCo’s Composition, 1985 & 1988 118
7.2 Positions of the ExCo’s Non-government Members, 119
1987
7.3 Annual Hong Kong Economic and Budget Growth, 120
1975-1991
7.4 Social Security Expenditure as a Percentage of GDP, 123
1985-1990
7.5 Social Security Provision in Hong Kong, 1991 123
7.6 Family Benefit and Worker’s Income Compared 128
7.7 Expenditure Patterns of Public Assistance Recipients 129
7.8 Sex Ratio in Education, 1971 132
8.1 Method for the Formation of the LegCo before 2007 139
8.2 Composition of the Selection Committee for Choosing 143
Hong Kong’s Chief Executive from 1997 to 2002
8.3 Composition of the Selection Committee for Choosing 144
Hong Kong’s Chief Executive from 2002 to 2007
8.4 Co-optees’ Backgrounds 144
8.5 Distribution of LegCo Seats in 2008 Election 145
8.6 LegCo Membership, 1998-2012 147
8.7 Functional Representatives’ Vetoes of Geographical 148
Representatives’ Initiatives, 1998-2003

ix