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That was the second thought that occurred to me as well (the first was to be absolutely horrified). The reporter said the rent for one of those cages is 12 (AUD
by hmsimha 14y ago
That was the second thought that occurred to me as well (the first was to be absolutely horrified). The reporter said the rent for one of those cages is 12 (AUD I believe) per month. Likewise, that only left each cage dweller with 13 AUD per day from their welfare check for other expenses (which the narrator said was not enough to afford 3 meals every day after other expenses). So if the cost of living in a cage for a month is roughly the cost of 3 meals (though that must be calculated at the cost of eating out, because even in the US you can eat quite well on $13 a day if you are frugal and know how to cook and budget) then they are spending less than many U.S. homeless shelters charge (it's not uncommon for homeless shelters to charge anywhere from $5-12 per night here). It's by no means a comfortable lifestyle, but it's better than being homeless and I believe many Americans receiving welfare and/or disability actually have far less buying power with what they receive, considering it's usually not nearly enough to meet rent, utilities, and food and transportation costs).
- danohuiginn 14y agoit was AUD12 per square foot. So something like AUD180/month for one of the cages.
- ctdonath 14y ago$1 per meal: http://abuckaplate.blogspot.com http://abuckaplate.blogspot.com
- fnordfnordfnord 14y agoThat may not be much help for the poor in HK.
- lclarkmichalek 14y agoDo these people have access to cooking facilities? Also a lot of the stuff there is being bought in bulk, and I imagine that storing stuff might be a problem. And of course, there is the omnipresent fact that many poor people do not have the time/knowledge to prepare many kinds of meal.
- frogpelt 14y agoI would think time would be more abundant for poor people.
- drcube 14y agoI don't know about Hong Kong, but not in the States. Time is a luxury.
- zem 14y agowhy? if you're poor, the amount of time you need to spend just taking care of life's basic necessities goes way up. getting things done efficiently, getting other people to do things for you, and deciding you can sacrifice a few hours' earning potential to do something else, are all things that require you be well-off first.
- pessimizer 14y agoOnly if you wrongly assume that poor people don't work.
- derleth 14y ago> Only if you wrongly assume that poor people don't work. Fiscal conservatives must assume this or their philosophy does not work.
- yummyfajitas 14y agoIn the US it's generally true. http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpswp2010.pdf http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpswp2010.pdf (Note: read past the title.) However, the US is an unusual place, so we should certainly not extrapolate that the same is true in Hong Kong or anywhere else (besides Canada).
- ctdonath 14y agoSome is bought in bulk, but not all. In response to similar concerns, some meals listed were prepared & cooked with just a knife, pan, spatula, and open fire of scrap wood.
- 14y ago
- lilsunnybee 14y agoMost disgusting comment i've seen in quite a while. Maybe you can go live in one of these cages too and see how thrifty you can be.
- ctdonath 14y agoDisgusting? My food budget disgusts you? I write that blog to help people know how well one can eat at that price, and to refute people like you. If you had read the parent post you'd have deduced I was responding to "even in the US you can eat quite well on $13 a day if you are frugal and know how to cook and budget".
- beatpanda 14y agoThank you for the blog and for this comment. However, access to cooking facilities can be a huge problem. A lot if the stuff in your blog can be done with a few pieces of cookware and a hot plate, but even that might be hard to get a hold of for some.