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The median income in HK per household per month is HKD 18000 in 2010[1] (USD ~2300). Everything you can buy in HK is essentially NYC prices. You can't feed your
by wyuenho 14y ago
The median income in HK per household per month is HKD 18000 in 2010[1] (USD ~2300). Everything you can buy in HK is essentially NYC prices. You can't feed your family with this income, so they are living in HK, taking advantage of free education and healthcare. There is also no "Chinese rural areas" anywhere near HK. HK is an island and a peninsula. North of HK is Shenzhen, also a big metropolitan area. There's no commuting to these "rural areas" that's feasible. Also, to commute to China, you essentially have to leave your children in China, otherwise you'll be leaving your children in HK, and take a job in China instead, which defeats the purpose.
[1]: http://www.gov.hk/en/about/abouthk/factsheets/docs/population.pdf http://www.gov.hk/en/about/abouthk/factsheets/docs/populatio...
- robryan 14y agoI was thinking in terms of moving instead of commuting. If your job prospects elsewhere are no good though it doesn't really help.
- wyuenho 14y agoThe problem is these people generally have little skills so their job prospects are pretty terrible anywhere. In reality, if you have a stable job, or possibly a family, you'd be living in public or subsidized housing instead of a cage. But that's no longer possible in the last decade since the government had stopped these programs.
- wilfra 14y agoShenzhen is still much, much cheaper than HK. I had a 2 bedroom 90 square meter apartment in Shenzhen in a brand new building and a nice part of town for 3,000 RMB/month. The same in Hong Kong would have been roughly 10 times more expensive. And Shenzhen is an expensive mainland city.
- wyuenho 14y agoAlternatively, these people choose to live in these cages that cost ~ HKD 2K and save the rest for their families.