The Characteristics of the Financially Vulnerable Groups Impacted by COVID-19 and Other Factors

Businesses have been exposed to various challenges during the global pandemic. Unfortunately, the financially vulnerable groups in society are disproportionately affected by such a difficult time. Therefore, it is important for businesses to recognise this when creating new business models for sustainable corporate management. This paper attempts to (1) identify the factors that affect individual financial vulnerability, (2) develop survey items to assess financial vulnerability and its factors and (3) provide the characteristics of financially vulnerable groups by presenting a complete set of descriptive statistics. The results can help to create more inclusive business models that are better equipped to address the challenges ahead. A questionnaire-based survey was conducted with collaboration with an NGO that provides a financial counselling service in Hong Kong. In total, 338 valid responses were collected and the data were used to characterise financially vulnerable groups in terms of (1) change in financial conditions due to COVID-19;(2) exposure to digitised financial services and related push marketing;(3) financial management ability;(4) changes in four financial behaviours and (5) financial vulnerability as measured according to the debt/service ratio. Results show that the respondents have a median debt/service ratio of 0.513, which represents an unsustainable level of debt. Around 1/4 of surveyed respondents reported that their debt/service ratio was 1 or even higher, indicating obvious difficulties in meeting financial obligations. A total of 36.7% of the respondents reported worsening financial conditions since the outbreak of COVID-19. The results presented provide a solid empirical set of data that will help future research work to examine and/or develop a heuristic financial vulnerability model that incorporates the key factors leading to it. Businesses can refer to them when creating new business models that are sustainable, able to meet corporate social responsibility goals and can achieve several targets/goals of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals.

FEELING VS BEING CONNECTED: DIFFERENTIATING LONELINESS AND ISOLATION IN NEAR- AND CENTENARIANS

While gerotranscendence theories postulate that older adults tend to orient themselves toward solitude, activity theories highlight the importance of continuing social and meaningful engagement for well-being across lifespan. The distinction between loneliness and social isolation is particularly observable in older adults of advanced age who are often facing accelerated decline in physical and functional health, therefore restricting their opportunities to interact with others. This has been particularly disturbing during the previous two years under COVID. This study utilized data from the 2nd Hong Kong Centenarian Study which interviewed 120 family caregivers of older adults aged 95 or above in 2021–2022 when the city experienced almost an entire year of the outbreak. Using family or friend proxy information as well as caregiver ratings of whether older adults expressed feelings of social isolation and loneliness, we found that 10.7% of older adults reported high levels of loneliness and isolation;26.7% feeling low in both;11.5% were isolated but not lonely, and 38.2% were lonely but not isolated. Loneliness ratings were more strongly associated with psychological well-being (Patient Health Questionnaire-4), autonomy, happiness, perceived usefulness, worries, and death anxiety than did isolation, with the latter negatively correlated with optimism. Participants rated in the low isolation/loneliness group were least (death) anxious than the other three groups. Our findings underscore the divergence of isolation and loneliness for adults of advanced age and call for psychological support for oldest-old adults who continue to face social isolation, especially when society gradually recovers from COVID.