Hong Kong unveils new low-income aid package

More than 30 percent of people over the age of 65 live below the poverty line in the semi-autonomous region.

Hong Kong’s chief executive, Leung Chun-ying, has unveiled a $386.89m aid package for low-income households.

Activists have been campaigning for changes to Hong Kong’s social welfare system for years. They say the $250 monthly cash handouts for the elderly, known as fruit money, are inadequate.

The government only established an official measure to address poverty two years ago. It found that more than 30 percent of people over 65 fell below the poverty line.

Al Jazeera’s Divya Gopolan reports from Hong Kong.

Source: Al Jazeera