Childhood is a critical period of the life of human beings, and experiencing poverty at this stage can seriously hinder children’s development. A reliable measure of child poverty is the essential prerequisite for monitoring children’s living situations and for providing government with sound evidence for policy making. Despite the importance of the issue of child poverty, to date there has been no effective measure of child poverty in urban China. This study is an effort to fill this gap. In contrast to the conventional income-based approach to poverty, the deprivation approach initiated by Peter Townsend in the 1970s is able to offer a direct, non-monetary, and multidimensional lens through which to examine child poverty. On the basis of international definition of child poverty and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, in this current study the author constructed a child poverty measure — Child Deprivation Indicators (CDIs) — in China’s urban context. A quantitative approach was used and a survey called Child Poverty in Urban China was carried out in Beijing from October 2011 to March 2012. Employing a multistage sampling method, 1,000 households with children were selected to participate in the survey, and the response rate was 91%. After a process of indicator selection, survey, and threshold setting, 34 indicators covering six dimensions of children’s basic needs were chosen to constitute the CDIs. The six dimensions are diet, clothing, housing conditions, household facilities, education, and social interaction. Children lacking five or more indicators because of economic constraint would be identified as being deprived. According to the study findings, 12.7% of children were living in deprivation at the time of survey. The 34 items showed differing degrees of deprivation, ranging from 0.4% to 14.0%. Education and social interaction were the two dimensions demonstrating the widest deprivation. Significant and considerable differences were found between local and migrant children both in terms of deprivation rate and severity. Migrant children are seriously disadvantaged compared with their urban peers but they are not entitled to social assistance in cities. To further examine the newly constructed child poverty measure, the author compared the CDIs with two conventional poverty measures which are based on social assistance recipient status and on family income. Findings showed that they identified different groups of poor children with moderate degrees of overlap. In spite of this, the deprivation severities of children receiving social assistance or living in low-income families were significantly higher than those of non-recipient children and children from normal-income families, implying that these three different child poverty measures are closely related to each other. Several suggestions were generated to inform policy making and practice. First, government should raise the standards of social assistance and introduce child-specific assistance programmes. Second, migrant children should be treated equally to urban children and be entitled to social assistance. Third, in practice different child poverty measures should be utilized in conjunction with each other. Finally, with minor adjustments the CDIs can be utilized in other cities. / published_or_final_version / Social Work and Social Administration / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

abstract / Urban Planning and Design / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

by Lau Yin Ling. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 82-88). / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.i / LIST OF TABLES --- p.ii / ABSTRACT --- p.iii / ACKNOWLEDGMENTS --- p.iv / CHAPTER / Chapter I. --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Chapter II. --- LITERATURE REVIEW --- p.5 / Chapter 2.1 --- CONCEPT OF ABSOLUTE POVERTY --- p.6 / Chapter 2.2 --- CONCEPT OF RELATIVE POVERTY --- p.12 / Chapter 2.3 --- CONCEPT OF SUBJECTIVE POVERTY --- p.16 / Chapter 2.4 --- STUDIES OF POVERTY IN HONG KONG --- p.18 / Chapter III. --- THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK --- p.21 / Chapter 3.1 --- CONCEPTUAL ISSUES --- p.21 / Chapter 3.2 --- THE MODEL --- p.23 / Chapter IV. --- THE DATA --- p.32 / Chapter 4.1 --- SAMPLING METHODS --- p.32 / Chapter 4.2 --- GENERAL EXPENDITURE PATTERNS FROM THE 1989/90HOUSEHOLD EXPENDITURE SURVEY --- p.35 / Chapter V. --- THE EXTENT OF POVERTY IN HONG KONG --- p.47 / Chapter 5.1 --- SPECIFICATION OF THE MODEL --- p.47 / Chapter 5.2 --- EMPIRICAL RESULTS --- p.52 / Chapter VI. --- THE ABSOLUTE POVERTY PROFILE IN HONG KONG --- p.60 / Chapter 6.1 --- HOUSEHOLD SIZE AND POVERTY --- p.61 / Chapter 6.2 --- HOUSEHOLD CHARACTERISTICS AND POVERTY --- p.62 / Chapter 6.3 --- TYPE OF HOUSING AND POVERTY --- p.64 / Chapter VII. --- CONCLUDING REMARKS AND RECOMMENDATIONS --- p.72 / APPENDIX --- p.75 / BIBLIOGRAPHY --- p.82

Fung Shuk Wai Freda. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 70-75). / ABSTRACT --- p.i / ACKNOWLEDGMENT --- p.ii / Chapter Chapter 1. --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Review of Poverty in China --- p.3 / Chapter 1.1.1 --- Anti-poverty Campaign and Incidence of Poverty after1978 --- p.3 / Chapter 1.1.2 --- Distribution of the Poor --- p.6 / Chapter 1.2 --- Background Information of Guangdong --- p.11 / Chapter Chapter 2. --- Literature Review --- p.14 / Chapter 2.1 --- Previous Studies of Poverty Measurement in China --- p.14 / Chapter 2.1.1 --- The Official Estimates of Poverty --- p.14 / Chapter 2.1.2 --- The Unofficial Poverty Line Estimated by SSB --- p.17 / Chapter 2.1.3 --- The World Bank Poverty Line --- p.21 / Chapter 2.1.4 --- Other Studies of Poverty Line --- p.22 / Chapter 2.2 --- Conceptual Approaches on Appraising Well Being --- p.23 / Chapter 2.2.1 --- Welfarist Approach --- p.23 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- Non-Welfarist Approach --- p.24 / Chapter 2.2.3 --- Relative Merits of Welfarist and Non-welfarist Perspectives --- p.24 / Chapter 2.3 --- The Concept of Poverty --- p.25 / Chapter 2.3.1 --- Absolute Concept of Poverty --- p.25 / Chapter 2.3.2 --- Relative Concept of Poverty --- p.27 / Chapter 2.3.3 --- Subjective Concept of Poverty --- p.28 / Chapter 2.4 --- Unit of Analysis and Equivalence Scales --- p.29 / Chapter 2.5 --- The Measurement of Poverty --- p.30 / Chapter 2.5.1 --- Headcount Ratio --- p.31 / Chapter 2.5.2 --- Foster-Greer-Thorbecke Index --- p.32 / Chapter Chapter 3. --- Method and Estimation Results of Equivalence Scales --- p.34 / Chapter 3.1 --- Analytical Framework --- p.34 / Chapter 3.2 --- Specification of the Demand System and Equivalence Scale --- p.38 / Chapter 3.2.1 --- Specification and Estimation of the Translog Model --- p.39 / Chapter 3.2.2 --- Estimation Results of the Demand System and Equivalence Scales --- p.43 / Chapter 3.2.2.1 --- Commodity Specific Equivalence Scales --- p.46 / Chapter 3.2.2.2 --- General Household Equivalence Scales --- p.48 / Chapter Chapter 4. --- Estimation of Poverty Line and Extent of Poverty --- p.52 / Chapter 4.1 --- The Estimation of Poverty Line --- p.52 / Chapter 4.2 --- The Extent of Poverty --- p.53 / Chapter 4.3 --- Sensitivity Analysis --- p.55 / Chapter Chapter 5. --- Concluding Remarks --- p.66 / REFERENCES --- p.70 / APPENDIXES / Appendix I: The Data Set --- p.77 / Appendix II: Details of Teqiong Xian and Fajian Xian Estimated by the SSB --- p.81 / Appendix III: Using Different Reference Household for the Estimation of the Extent of Poverty --- p.82

Poverty is not solely a prominent issue in developing countries but also in economically advanced cities. Viewing in the context of Hong Kong, the high degree of income disparity reflected by Overall Gini Coefficient Index has revealed the poverty situation behind the image of prosperity. Vulnerable groups are untouched by the development process, and living under substandard conditions especially considering the multidisciplinary characteristics of poverty. In order to address the issues of urban poverty, the Chief Executive has acclaimed in the Policy Address 2014 the necessity of poverty alleviation, care for the elderly and support for the disadvantaged. Yet, community development on poverty alleviation cannot depend on the financial and resource assistance from the Government only. The inbuilt resources, skills and abilities of a community also need to be taken into account. This study has sought to identify a method that can better understand and evaluate community assets towards poverty reduction for vulnerable groups. Thus, after the literature review, it has been found that SLAs could be introduced to understand the subsistent circumstances and priorities of the poor –assets they actually own to make a living and problems that they face in the utilization of assets. Sham Shui Po would be invoked as a case study to conduct SLA due to the rather severe poverty situation, and the multifarious characteristics in the community. The overall poverty situation in Sham Shui Po has continued to deteriorate due to the increasing poverty rate and widening poverty gap. Three groups have been targeted as priority poverty groups, namely, elderly, new-arrivals and unemployment. The vulnerability context of these impoverished groups in the large landscape of Sham Shui Po has then been analyzed as the trends of increasing urban population especially aging groups, aggravated economic pressures on poverty groups and shocks of disempowerment in economic, social and political aspects. Then based on the mapping of existing human, financial, physical, natural and social capital within the area, a livelihood asset pentagon has been figured out to explain the strengths and vulnerabilities on the mobilization of these five types of capital. Afterwards, the effectsof livelihood strategiesand policieson the livelihood assets pentagons would be analyzed. Livelihood strategies initiated by poor residents themselves are always considered as negative practices since they are all based on the sacrifice of the accessibility of other kinds of assets. Policies considered in this study include social welfare systems which aim to provide financial and resource assistance, and urban renewal in pursue to speed up the integral development of old urban areas. However, it is argued that the implementation of social welfare systems is not satisfactory enough to bring poverty groups back to a prosperous life, while the process of urban renewal has actually disrupted the social network of poor groups. Based on the analysis above, policy recommendation would be proposed to alleviate the adverse impacts and intensify the favorable impacts of community assets, livelihood strategies and policies on the livelihoods of poverty groups. / published_or_final_version / Urban Planning and Design / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

published_or_final_version / Journalism and Media Studies Centre / Master / Master of Journalism

published_or_final_version / Urban Planning / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

Poverty management has been institutionalized in affluent societies. Individuals are less vulnerable to starvation, but it does not mean they are exempt from plight. The issue of respect and recognition is high on the agenda. Poverty amidst plenty arouses suspicion and incites hostility. Civil inequality makes a place inhospitable. In this regard, I wish to revitalize the poverty debate by working on two key concepts: craftsmanship and citizenship. We can see craftsman and citizen in local Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) mothers, in particular in the career and life history of them. Craftsmanship describes a fundamental impulse in humanity: the desire to do a job well for its own sake. A craftsman aims to get better rather than get by or get ahead. Life adds up when practiced as a craft. Citizenship is concerned about human association: how should we live together? Of particular note is the virtue of citizens. To make sense of their orientation to act, I approach citizenship as lived practice. These two sentiments are aptly tracked down from life history analysis, studying individuals as a process of social becoming. The key is to identify social gateways, in the forms of significant events and encounters, leading to social innovation. My investigation witnesses the making of a career of respect. For CSSA mothers, the starting point is located in a life crisis. All felicity wish is misfired; their lives sink into victimization. To lift them out of this state, it requires an awakening. The small voice of a child may make a magic. This hints at the situational imperatives of parenthood, which is often the key to revive a soul. The welfare of their children cries out for a halt in self-pity. Mothers respond by making a baby step, venturing into unfamiliar territories and trying out new things. Chances are that they will be in touch with expert systems against the backdrop of the institutionalization of poverty management. Government bureaucracies and NGOs from civil society especially come to their aid. Apart from professionals, ordinary folk, like a community of women, can be sociable experts. Together, they boost reflexivity, resourcefulness, and resilience. Greater transformation takes place in an enabling social space. Of exceptional significance is the transcendence from the smaller “I” in isolation to the bigger “we” whose future belongs to a common project. Three types of crafted citizens are identified. The metaphors of kangaroos, beavers, and watchdogs are used to give credit to their contributions to parenting, community building, and policy campaign respectively. In the end, three lessons are drawn. The first campaigns for social space at the meso level that is proven to contribute a great deal to the career of respect. The second addresses the issue of care by advocating a universal caregiver model. The third puts forward a new welfare contract to cope with public legitimacy about CSSA. These lessons concern us all if what matters to us are human flourishing, gender equity, and solidarity. / published_or_final_version / Sociology / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

作為一種新型扶貧手段，小額信貸產業在過去三十年中於發展中國家迅速興起。從業者常常聲稱小額信貸機構能夠為貧窮農民提供金融機會，而這些弱勢群體過去往往被排除在傳統金融機構之外；與此同時，不同於以往的扶貧手段，小額信貸機構被認為能夠在財務上達到平衡乃至盈利。這種雙重目標的前景吸引了許多發展中國家的興趣，因此，小額信貸產業作為解決貧困問題的一種嘗試而在國際舞台上獲得了迅猛的發展。 / 由於中國獨特的社會和政治環境，小額信貸機構的發展有其特殊的軌跡。本研究以深入訪談和參與式觀察為主要研究方法，通過為期三個月的田野調查，對中國西部與北部的兩個非政府小額信貸組織進行了深入考察。研究發現，小額信貸組織正面臨無法同時達成雙重目標的困境；基於觀察與資料分析，本文提出，中國農村社區信任結構的轉型是小額信貸組織面臨多重問題的主要原因。隨著市場經濟的發展與城市化的加速，在日漸瓦解的熟人社會中，小額信貸機構的社會目標被其財務目標所壓制，導致原有的扶貧、婦女賦權等目標難以達成，更形成了目標替代的組織現象。 / 為深入探討小額信貸產業中目標替代的現象，本文從組織目標的合法性與可測量性兩個角度提出假設，指出當邊緣目標具有強烈的合法性和直觀的可測量性，便可能取代相對難以觀測的核心目標。最後，本文指出，為保證小額信貸組織不偏離原有的社會目標，需要設計一種新型的、獨立的測量工具，用以跟踪記錄小額信貸組織的社會影響，並將其作為判斷組織表現的核心因素。 / Known as an innovative tool for poverty alleviation, microfinance has been widely spread in developing countries in the past few decades. It is commonly claimed that microfinance institutions (MFIs) can provide financial opportunities to those who are unable to obtain loans from the formal system, while at the same time maintain their institutional sustainability. This promise has attracted the interest of developing countries with large population in poverty, leading to a remarkable emergence of microfinance industry on the global stage. / Because of the special social and political environment, the development of MFIs in China has its unique trajectory. Based on interviews and participant observation, this three-month research focuses on two non-governmental MFIs in Western China and Northern China, revealing a plight of infeasible dual objectives and proposing an explanation from the angle of transformed trust structure. In a collapsing acquaintance community, the social objectives are suppressed by the demands of self-sustainability, thus violating the original intention of poverty alleviation and women empowerment, and leading to a phenomenon of goal displacement. / To further discuss the logic behind the goal displacement phenomenon in microfinance industry, two propositions are suggested from the angles of legitimacy and measurability of organizational goals. The findings indicate that to ensure the social objective of MFIs, an independent evaluation system is needed to track the social impacts and better assess organizational performances in microfinance industry. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Liu, Ran. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2013. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 65-74). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts also in Chinese. / Chapter 1. --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 2. --- Trust and its Transformation --- p.4 / Chapter 3. --- Debates on Microfinance --- p.11 / Chapter 3.1 --- Development of global microfinance --- p.11 / Chapter 3.2 --- Microfinance in China --- p.18 / Chapter 4. --- Research Settings and Methodology --- p.23 / Chapter 4.1 --- Methodology and Limitations --- p.23 / Chapter 4.2 --- Brief introduction of association A --- p.25 / Chapter 4.3 --- Brief introduction of association B --- p.27 / Chapter 5. --- Microfinance and the Transformation of Trust --- p.29 / Chapter 5.1 --- Urbanization and the transition of clients --- p.29 / Chapter 5.2 --- The Failure of group-lending model --- p.37 / Chapter 5.3 --- The decoupling between practices and regulations --- p.42 / Chapter 5.4 --- Target shift and goal displacement --- p.47 / Chapter 6. --- Discussion: Dual Objectives and Goal Displacement --- p.51 / Chapter 6.1 --- Multiple organizational goals of MFIs --- p.51 / Chapter 6.2 --- Proposition 1: Sustainability as a legitimate goal --- p.55 / Chapter 6.3 --- Proposition 2: Sustainability as a practical goal --- p.58 / Chapter 7. --- Conclusion --- p.62 / References --- p.65 / Chapter Appendix: --- Information of Interviewees --- p.75

published_or_final_version / Politics and Public Administration / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy