【明報專訊】The disparity between rich and poor(貧富懸殊) refers to the income gap between high-incomers and low-incomers in society. It reflects how social resources are being distributed. The Gini coefficient is a common tool for measuring the disparity between rich and poor. The coefficient is between 0 and 1, with 0 denoting absolute equality and 1 denoting absolute inequality. The higher the coefficient, the greater the disparity. In the real world there is no absolute equality or inequality.

China's poverty rate

As pointed out by Director of the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development Liu Yongfu in March 2018, China's poverty rate as of late 2017 was 3.1 percent. There were 16,000 villages with a poverty rate higher than 20 percent. Wealth varied substantially from village to village.

Gini coefficient in HK reached 45-year high

According to a report published by Oxfam in September 2018, the Gini coefficient in Hong Kong was 0.539 in 2016, a 45-year high. The group said that while the government's surplus had repeatedly reached new highs, the government's recurrent spending accounted for just 14.4 percent of the GDP in the year 2018/19, lower than that in 2003, which was 15.7 percent. Law Chi-kwong, the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, responded by saying that recurrent spending on welfare had risen year on year by 21.3 percent, which was unprecedented.

Wealth gap

In a report published in January 2019, Oxfam found that the wealth of those with a personal worth of over US$ 1 billion had risen by 12 percent over the previous year. However, the poorest half of humanity, which numbered around 3.8 billion, had seen their wealth dwindle by 11 percent. The wealth of the 26 richest people was equal to that of the poorest 3.8 billion altogether. The report showed that the disparity between rich and poor was widening. The group pled with governments around the world to address the issue of unfair taxation and implement measures such as a wealth tax.

Yellow vests movement

After Emmanuel Macron took office as French president, he abolished the wealth tax and massively raised the fuel tax, thus triggering the ''yellow vests'' movement in November 2018. At its height nearly 300,000 people took part. The protesters criticised Macron for slashing labour protection and housing subsidy and failing to consider the sluggish economic growth and high unemployment rate in rural areas before deciding to raise the fuel tax. As rural residents relied on cars for transportation, the tax hike would make their lives much harder.

After three weeks of mass protests, the French government backed down. In December 2018 Macron announced that he would cancel the fuel tax increase, raise the minimum wage, and withdraw the plan to impose a social security tax on retired people.

Translated by Terence Yip

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