Latest news with #lowIncomeFamilies
South China Morning Post
11 hours ago
- General
- South China Morning Post
80% of Hong Kong's disadvantaged children suffer nutritional imbalance: survey
Eight in 10 children from low-income families in Hong Kong suffer from serious nutritional imbalance, with less than 14 per cent getting enough dairy, a survey has found. Advertisement The People Service Centre on Tuesday released the findings of a four-year study that monitored 426 children, aged three to 11, from underprivileged households, including those living in public housing and substandard accommodation such as subdivided flats and cubicle rooms. The study, conducted by the poverty-focused NGO in collaboration with the Hong Kong Community Dietitian Association and Emeritus Professor in Public Health and Primary Care Albert Lee at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, showed that 80 per cent of the children had a serious nutritional imbalance, with only 13.6 per cent meeting the dairy intake target set by the Department of Health. About 60 per cent of the children had insufficient intake of both fruits and vegetables. Nearly half failed to meet the recommended grain intake, while close to 40 per cent did not consume enough meat. 'There were at least 40 per cent of children who did not meet the standards in each of the five major food categories,' Gloria Yeung Tan-ping, a project officer at the centre, said. 'The figures reflected the serious nutritional imbalance in children, and the intake level will affect their growth.' Advertisement The department recommends a daily balanced diet for children aged two to five that includes 1.5 to three bowls of grains, at least 1.5 servings of vegetables, at least one serving of fruit, up to 111 grams of meat, fish, egg and alternatives, and two servings of milk or alternatives.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Low-income Tennesseans get punished for making more money. Let's fix that.
Imagine that you are offered a promotion and raise at work. But there's just one catch: If you take it, you will move into a higher tax bracket. The bracket is so high, in fact, that you will actually end up with less take-home pay. What would you do? That's the exact situation in which many low-income Tennesseans find themselves. Someone trying to leave welfare for work is likely to run into a phenomenon known as a 'welfare cliff.' That is, the increase in work income can trigger a sudden loss of benefits, potentially leaving them financially worse-off, even when they earn more money. The loss of benefits operates similarly to a tax hike. Policymakers often debate marginal tax rates because high rates can reduce investment, entrepreneurship, and economic growth. But welfare cliffs can mean that, effectively, some of the highest marginal tax rates fall on low-income Americans trying to work their way out of poverty. In some cases, especially for those earning between 100% and 250% of the federal poverty level, the marginal tax can exceed 100%. That can discourage those people from pursuing work, marriage, education and other steps toward self-sufficiency. This is clearly a structural flaw in our approach to helping those in poverty. The purpose of welfare shouldn't be to simply help families endure poverty more comfortably, but to assist them in escaping it altogether. In a survey of Tennessee welfare recipients, 90% said that if they had financial assistance that would help them through a cliff, they would take a better-paying job even if it meant losing their benefits. Nearly 80% said they would work more hours, 77% said they would take a raise, and 69% said they would pursue additional education opportunities. Opinion: If Nashville is a welcoming city, why are so many of its residents struggling? The simplest and most effective way to deal with welfare cliffs would be for Tennessee to establish 'transitional benefits' to offset the loss in benefits that occurs as a recipient earns non-welfare income. Rather than an individual immediately losing benefits when their income reaches the eligibility threshold, benefits would be 'stepped down' in proportion to increases in non-welfare income. Fortunately, Tennessee policymakers are in a strong position to fix the problem. The state has more than $700 million in unused federal TANF funds that it must spend down, which would allow legislators to undertake large-scale welfare reforms without sacrificing other priorities. The state should devote a substantial portion of the available funds to addressing the benefits cliff problem. Moreover, the state has a template for reform. The Martha O'Brien Center has been managing a pilot program that combines transitional benefits with counseling for roughly 600 Tennessee families. The program has developed a web-based calculator that determines an appropriate transitional benefit based on the family's income, current benefits and family composition. Opinion: Nashville depends on low-wage workers. How do we ensure they can live here? The pilot is being monitored and evaluated by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta among others. Although it is too early for hard data analysis, anecdotal reports suggest that the program is having a positive effect. The state legislature is reportedly working on potential solutions for some of the state's worst welfare cliffs, in particular, the state's low-income child care subsidy. By doing so, Tennessee will smooth the transition from welfare to work, leading to more earnings, more self-sufficiency, more innovation, and more efficiently spent welfare dollars. Michael Tanner is a Senior Fellow, Social Mobility, at the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee can curb welfare cliffs with transitional benefits | Opinion
CNA
7 days ago
- Business
- CNA
‘Small benefit': Indonesia's banking on consumers to boost its economy but latest perks fall short, say analysts
JAKARTA: Indonesia is rolling out a slew of stimulus measures to get its people to spend more in the next two months, but these may not be enough to revive sluggish domestic consumption and lift economic growth, analysts say. Instead, broader moves are needed to help the country's dwindling middle class and protect businesses from the effects of higher United States tariffs, they add. With the school holidays set to take place between Jun 28 and Jul 12, the government is looking to boost domestic tourism and consumption. The government announced on Tuesday (May 27) discounts on electricity bills and transportation costs as well as cash and food handouts to selected households that will begin on Jun 5. Indonesians will enjoy a 30 per cent discount on train tickets as well as a 50 per cent discount on sea transport. In addition, the government will cover the 6 per cent value-added tax (VAT) on airfares from early June to mid-July. A 50 per cent discount on electricity bills will be given to around 79.3 million households with a maximum usage of 1,300 volt-amperes from Jun 5 to Jul 31. The government will also provide 150,000 rupiah in wage subsidy for two months to about 17 million workers earning up to 3.5 million rupiah (US$215) a month. It will give an additional 200,000 rupiah a month in staple food assistance to 18.3 million households. With the majority of the incentives set to benefit low-income families and not the middle class, experts are questioning just how effective the stimulus will be. 'It is difficult to achieve the expected consumption boost with such (a) small benefit given to such a small number of beneficiaries,' Achmad Nur Hidayat, an economics and public policy lecturer from the Jakarta National Development University, told CNA. Almost all of the planned incentives will benefit lower-income households, he noted. According to the Indonesian Statistics Bureau, there are 25.2 million Indonesians who live below the poverty line, surviving on less than 600,000 rupiah (US$36) monthly. 'Houses with 1,300VA (maximum electricity usage) are typically found in housing complexes for low-income families. Workers with a salary of less than 3.5 million (rupiah) are low-income workers,' he explained. 'If the intention is to boost consumption, then the government should target the middle class with disposable income,' he said. 'The middle class has been responsible for much of Indonesia's domestic consumption and their purchasing power has been dwindling for the last few years,' concurred Yusuf Rendy Manilet, an economist from the think tank Center of Reform on Economics (CORE). 'And yet, incentives for the middle class are limited to transportation fares.' RISK OF MORE JOB LOSSES Household consumption contributes around 54 per cent of Indonesia's economy, according to official data. However, consumption appears to be slowing over the last few years. In the first quarter of 2025, consumption grew by 4.89 per cent compared to the same period in 2024 despite major festivities like Chinese New Year and Idul Fitri occurring during the period. The year-on-year growth was Indonesia's weakest for a first quarter in more than three years: The rate was 5.11 per cent in 2024, 5.03 per cent in 2023 and 5.01 per cent in 2022. Indonesia clocked 4.87 per cent gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the first quarter, and is aiming for around 5 per cent growth for the second quarter. Meanwhile, import of household goods in January and February this year stood at US$1.64 billion and US$1.47 billion respectively. The figures were 10.6 and 21 per cent lower year-on-year, another sign of sluggish household consumption in Southeast Asia's largest economy. One major factor is the shrinking of Indonesia's middle class population, which has been responsible for around 40 per cent of the country's total consumption. The country is still reeling from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused thousands of businesses to shutter. The number of people categorised as middle class dropped from 57.33 million in 2019 to 47.85 million in 2024. During the same period, Indonesia's population increased from 267 million to 280 million. Experts believe that Indonesia's middle class could shrink further with the US' threat of 32 per cent tariffs on goods from Indonesia. The Trump administration has put higher 'reciprocal' tariffs on hold until July. The Indonesian government's latest economic stimulus incentives will only cut household expenses temporarily, said Tauhid Ahmad of the think tank Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (INDEF). 'But if we want something which is long-lasting, then we need to do much more, starting from creating new jobs to preventing existing jobs from disappearing,' he said. Indonesia's Manpower Minister Yassierli said in parliament on May 12 that more than 24,000 people lost their jobs between Jan 1 and Apr 23 this year. He said tens of thousands more are at risk because of the trade war. This is particularly so in the textile and furniture sectors, where goods are mostly bound for overseas markets. The Indonesian Employers Association (APINDO) has painted a more alarming picture, saying on May 14 that at least 70,000 people have been laid off between January and March. APINDO warned that if the looming impact of the trade war is not mitigated well, 250,000 people could lose their jobs by the end of the year. INCENTIVES FOR 'LONG-TERM GOOD' NEEDED Some experts like Tauhid said it is important that Indonesia gears government stimulus and incentives towards mitigating the impact of a punishing trade war. But they noted the government funding to be allocated to President Prabowo Subianto's signature programmes like free meals for millions of school children, breastfeeding and expectant women. This year, Indonesia is earmarking US$7.4billion for the initiative, with plans to nearly double the budget to US$13.3 billion next year. Aside from the free meal initiative, Prabowo also plans to build 3 million houses for the poor every year, which is expected to cost taxpayers US$7 billion annually. To cover the costs of the programmes, the government initially planned to increase its VAT from 11 to 12 per cent from Jan 1. The plan, however, was cancelled after fierce public backlash. Without the VAT hike, these programmes are predicted to cause a government deficit of around US$37billion or 2.53 per cent of the GDP by the end of 2025. '(These programmes) give little room for the government to provide meaningful incentives to revive our economy,' said Achmad, suggesting that these programmes be postponed or reviewed. 'Must we do them now? Can we scale them down? The government needs to think about these options,' he said. Tauhid of INDEF suggested also offering help to companies. 'Instead of providing incentives to individuals, why not provide incentives to businesses so they can stay afloat? Why not provide tax breaks so investors are willing to build factories here and create jobs?' he said. 'The plan to provide discounts on electricity bills and distribute cash handouts are popular with the general public and can give quick results but the results are temporary and superficial. We need something for the long-term good of our economy.' Bhima Yudhistira, executive director of the think tank Center of Economic and Law Studies (CELIOS), said the government could consider reducing the VAT, currently at 11 per cent, to 9 per cent. 'By keeping prices low, people will be encouraged to spend more on goods and services," he said. "This will in turn help small and medium enterprises providing these goods and services,' Bhima said, highlighting that many countries like Ireland and Germany have lowered their VATs to aid recovery from the effects of the pandemic.
New York Times
17-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Republican Hypocrisy Reaches Into the Countryside
President Trump won his second term in office with the overwhelming support of rural America. Not only was overall turnout up in the nation's rural counties, but Trump won many of those areas by more than two-to-one. And while it is a little too much to say that Trump's dominance with rural voters delivered him the White House, it is true that without this over-performance, his path to victory would have been harder. Given the importance of rural voters to his political coalition — and that of any Republican who hopes to follow in his footsteps — you might assume that Trump would prioritize the interests of rural voters. This is, after all, what you're supposed to do in a democracy: reward your supporters for their support. Not so for Trump and his Republican allies in Congress. If anything, their agenda is calibrated to devastate rural America. Consider the budget proposal now making its way through the House of Representatives. To pay for their $3.8 trillion tax plan, which includes possibly trillions in tax cuts and extensions for the wealthiest Americans, Republicans want to cut $700 billion from Medicaid and other federal health programs. If passed into law, these cuts — some which come in the form of work requirements for Medicaid — could cause as many as 8.6 million Americans to lose their health insurance. Some prominent Republicans may see many of these Medicaid recipients as adult layabouts, but it's more likely that these cuts will affect low-income children, seniors and Americans with disabilities, who rely on Medicaid for health and home care. But the big point I want to make is that, as the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities notes, rural areas in particular depend on Medicaid spending. Nearly half of all children in rural areas, 47 percent, receive health insurance through Medicaid. Rural hospitals, which have struggled to stay afloat in the face of broad and overlapping challenges, also rely on Medicaid to stay open and provide needed services to isolated areas. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Japan Times
15-05-2025
- General
- Japan Times
Children from low-income families take fewer enrichment lessons
Some 70% of children from Japanese households with an annual income of less than ¥3 million ($20,540) take no enrichment lesson outside of school education, according to a survey by a nonprofit organization. Gaps are also seen in ways children spend after-school hours at home between low-income and other households. "Disparities in after-school experiences may give broad impacts on children's learning and upbringing," said an official at Houkago NPO Afterschool, the organization. The survey was conducted online over Jan. 17 and 18, targeting 1,200 guardians of elementary school children of dual-income and single-parent households. Among all respondents, 61.6% said their children take enrichment lessons. The proportion of children who take lessons and the frequency of doing so are higher as household income increases, according to the survey. The proportion of households with children taking no enrichment lesson amounted to 38.7% for those with an annual income of between ¥3 million and ¥6 million, 34.1% for those with an income of ¥6 million between ¥10 million, and 27.8% for those with an income of ¥10 million or more. As high as 69.2% of households with an income of under ¥3 million do not send their children for enrichment lessons. The survey found that children from 27.1% of households attend cram schools overall but that the proportion was as small as 13.8% for households with an annual income of under ¥3 million. In addition to financial reasons, parents' unavailability to take their children to and from cram schools due to work commitments may be a factor, according to the organization. Of all respondents, 35.8% said their children have no opportunity to play with friends after school. For households with an income of below ¥3 million, the proportion was 52.3%. Asked about how their children spend after-school hours at home, no one from households with an income of under ¥3 million responded they were into sports or music, compared with 10% to 30% for all other households. "Taking enrichment lessons and playing with friends provide significant opportunities. Improving the environment will be needed to help all children to acquire various experiences," the Houkago NPO Afterschool official said.
