{"id":4778,"date":"2024-05-27T04:53:07","date_gmt":"2024-05-27T04:53:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jmsc6110a.com\/capstone2024\/?p=4778"},"modified":"2024-06-07T09:40:42","modified_gmt":"2024-06-07T09:40:42","slug":"hong-kong-needs-more-than-cash-to-convince-couples-to-have-babies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jmsc6110a.com\/capstone2024\/hong-kong-needs-more-than-cash-to-convince-couples-to-have-babies\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Aren&#8217;t the Birth Boosting Policies Working?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By Yiyang He and Dan Wang<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>HKU Journalism and Media Studies Centre<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">HONG KONG &#8211; Every Saturday morning, Queenie Lau enjoys a leisurely walk in a park in Sai Ying Pun while her 5-month-old daughter naps in a baby carrier.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The quality time between the 35-year-old mother and her baby became more precious since she started working two jobs. To manage the financial challenges of raising a newborn, Lau sells insurance and also works as a headhunter.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To lessen the stress for new parents, the Hong Kong government recently announced it would give a HK$20,000 (US$3,255) bonus for households with new babies born from Oct. 25, 2023 to Oct. 24, 2026.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_4780\" style=\"width: 610px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4780\" class=\"wp-image-4780\" src=\"https:\/\/jmsc6110a.com\/capstone2024\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/The-Department-of-Healths-posters-to-encourage-couples-to-have-more-children-300x216.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"433\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jmsc6110a.com\/capstone2024\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/The-Department-of-Healths-posters-to-encourage-couples-to-have-more-children-300x216.png 300w, https:\/\/jmsc6110a.com\/capstone2024\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/The-Department-of-Healths-posters-to-encourage-couples-to-have-more-children-1024x739.png 1024w, https:\/\/jmsc6110a.com\/capstone2024\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/The-Department-of-Healths-posters-to-encourage-couples-to-have-more-children-768x554.png 768w, https:\/\/jmsc6110a.com\/capstone2024\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/The-Department-of-Healths-posters-to-encourage-couples-to-have-more-children-1536x1108.png 1536w, https:\/\/jmsc6110a.com\/capstone2024\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/The-Department-of-Healths-posters-to-encourage-couples-to-have-more-children-1080x779.png 1080w, https:\/\/jmsc6110a.com\/capstone2024\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/The-Department-of-Healths-posters-to-encourage-couples-to-have-more-children.png 1552w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-4780\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Department of Health\u2019s posters to encourage couples to have more children. Photo: Dan Wang<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But Lau, who has received the bonus and has yet to figure out how to spend it, said it won\u2019t go very far.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIt\u2019s only able to cover our kid\u2019s milk powder fees for three to five months, which is a very small amount compared to all other costs we need to spend on the kid,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As of March 15, 2024, about 10,000 new parents received the bonus as the government spent over HK$193 million on the program, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.legco.gov.hk\/yr2024\/english\/fc\/fc\/w_q\/cso-e.pdf\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">according to a government statement.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hong Kong is trying to tackle its most severe decline in birth rates to date. The city\u2019s fertility rate \u2013 the average number of children a woman has in her lifetime \u2013 has seen an almost 30% decline over four years, from 1.06 in 2019 to 0.75 in 2023, according to the latest government statistics. The shift has left Hong Kong with one of the lowest fertility rates in the world.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe id=\"datawrapper-chart-nQPGE\" style=\"width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;\" title=\"Hong Kong Fertility Rates\" src=\"https:\/\/datawrapper.dwcdn.net\/nQPGE\/1\/\" height=\"595\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" aria-label=\"Interactive line chart\" data-external=\"1\"><\/iframe><script type=\"text\/javascript\">!function(){\"use strict\";window.addEventListener(\"message\",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll(\"iframe\");for(var t in a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"])for(var r=0;r<e.length;r++)if(e[r].contentWindow===a.source){var i=a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"][t]+\"px\";e[r].style.height=i}}}))}();\n<\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reversing the trend was one of the key priorities in Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee\u2019s 2023 policy address. In addition to the HK$20,000 cash allowance, the government also announced other incentives including an expansion of childcare services and easier access to public housing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But the implementation of the new policies has not made a measurable impact yet. A survey by the Hong Kong Women Development Association, or HKWDA, conducted from January to February 2024, showed that only 26% of over a thousand respondents are willing to have babies. This is only 2 percentage points higher than the result of a year ago, before the introduction of the new incentives.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cGiving people money when they have children is not a terrible idea because having children is expensive,\u201d said Dr. Stuart Gietel-Basten, a professor of social science and public policy at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. \u201cBut saying that it\u2019s a reason to encourage people to have more children, that doesn't work.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe id=\"datawrapper-chart-qc6We\" style=\"width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;\" title=\"Hong Kong People's Willingness to Have a Baby\" src=\"https:\/\/datawrapper.dwcdn.net\/qc6We\/1\/\" height=\"439\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" aria-label=\"Stacked Bars\" data-external=\"1\"><\/iframe><script type=\"text\/javascript\">!function(){\"use strict\";window.addEventListener(\"message\",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll(\"iframe\");for(var t in a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"])for(var r=0;r<e.length;r++)if(e[r].contentWindow===a.source){var i=a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"][t]+\"px\";e[r].style.height=i}}}))}();\n<\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A representative for Wing-Hing Cheuk, the deputy chief executive of the government\u2019s administration wing, referred HKU Journalism to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.info.gov.hk\/gia\/general\/202311\/08\/P2023110800274.htm?fontSize=1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">his previous statement to the Legislative Council<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in response to a request for comment.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0\u201cThe government does not consider that the introduction of the baby bonus scheme alone would be able to substantially increase the fertility rate,\u201d he said in the Nov. 2023 statement. \u201cWe hope that these measures coupled with enhancement of child care support and increase in tax concessions, etc. would help make young families to positively consider adding new members to their families.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The cash allowance received only a tepid welcome among Hongkongers surveyed by HKWDA. The bonus was rated 3.14 out of 10, meaning the respondents didn\u2019t really feel it boosted their willingness to have a baby. Other measures\u2019 ratings were slightly higher, ranging from 3.65 to 5.01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But all the measures are still not enough to support couples, according to the survey. About 77% of respondents found the government\u2019s current support to families with children inadequate, while only 6% thought it was sufficient. The rest said they were not sure.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIt\u2019s easy to have a baby, but very difficult to take care of a baby nowadays,\u201d Shun-shun Chan, the vice president of HKWDA, told HKU Journalism in an interview.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Chan added that women in Hong Kong face financial pressure when they have to give up their jobs in order to take care of babies.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hong Kong\u2019s aging population will become even older due to persistently low fertility rates. The city\u2019s Census and Statistics Department forecasts that the proportion of individuals aged 65 and above will rise to 36.0% by 2046, compared to 22.3% in 2022.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Baby bust across East Asia<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The baby bust is not only happening in Hong Kong. Across East Asia, the fertility rates in China, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore have for decades hovered below 2.1, the replacement rate that demographers say is needed to keep the population stable. Each of the countries also lags the world\u2019s overall total fertility rate, World Bank data show.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe id=\"datawrapper-chart-xK0rw\" style=\"width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;\" title=\"East Asia Fertility Rates 1960-2021\" src=\"https:\/\/datawrapper.dwcdn.net\/xK0rw\/1\/\" height=\"859\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" aria-label=\"Interactive line chart\" data-external=\"1\"><\/iframe><script type=\"text\/javascript\">!function(){\"use strict\";window.addEventListener(\"message\",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll(\"iframe\");for(var t in a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"])for(var r=0;r<e.length;r++)if(e[r].contentWindow===a.source){var i=a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"][t]+\"px\";e[r].style.height=i}}}))}();\n<\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">South Korea\u2019s government has been offering far more aggressive subsidies than Hong Kong to tackle its low fertility rate. President Yoon Suk Yeol said in 2022 that the country has spent more than US$210 million since 2006 to boost the fertility rate. Despite the subsidies, South Korea\u2019s fertility rate still fell to 0.72 in 2023, the latest government data show.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe id=\"datawrapper-chart-7H0jc\" style=\"width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;\" title=\"Comparison of Incentives for Giving Birth in East Asia\" src=\"https:\/\/datawrapper.dwcdn.net\/7H0jc\/1\/\" height=\"813\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" aria-label=\"Table\" data-external=\"1\"><\/iframe><script type=\"text\/javascript\">!function(){\"use strict\";window.addEventListener(\"message\",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll(\"iframe\");for(var t in a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"])for(var r=0;r<e.length;r++)if(e[r].contentWindow===a.source){var i=a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"][t]+\"px\";e[r].style.height=i}}}))}();\n<\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The low fertility rates in East Asia are tied to uneven gender roles, over-education, working, housing, and the cost of living, according to Dr. Gietel-Basten. \u201cIt\u2019s difficult for the government to change all of that,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While advanced economies across East Asia share low fertility rates, some Hongkongers still find other regions a better destination for parenting than Hong Kong. Keith, a financial services professional who is only using his first name for privacy concerns, moved with his wife to Singapore three years ago and only now has started to plan for a new baby. He believes living conditions are better in Singapore and the government provides more subsidies and welfare for parents than Hong Kong.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Singapore\u2019s cash allowance \u2013 about US$8,172 for the first child \u2013 is more than triple Hong Kong\u2019s newly-enacted baby bonus, which works out to about US$2,564 at today's exchange rates. The subsidy grows for families with three or more kids and the government also offers tax relief for parents with newborn kids, among other benefits.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIf we were still in Hong Kong now, I don\u2019t think we would want to have a kid,\u201d Keith said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Too little, too late?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hong Kong\u2019s new benefits have not yet convinced childless married women like Ivy Cheng, a 41-year-old clerk who has no plan to have a baby due to financial concerns. The total income of Cheng and her husband is slightly over HK$30,000 per month, matching the median household income in Hong Kong, according to government data.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cNowadays the prices for everything in Hong Kong are too high. I just can\u2019t earn enough money to raise a baby,\u201d said Cheng, who got married three years ago. \u201cAnd if I give up my job for the kid and rely on my husband\u2019s income, I will be stressed out.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_4796\" style=\"width: 610px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4796\" class=\"wp-image-4796\" src=\"https:\/\/jmsc6110a.com\/capstone2024\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Children-play-at-a-local-park-in-Wan-Chai-Hong-Kong-300x225.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jmsc6110a.com\/capstone2024\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Children-play-at-a-local-park-in-Wan-Chai-Hong-Kong-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/jmsc6110a.com\/capstone2024\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Children-play-at-a-local-park-in-Wan-Chai-Hong-Kong-1024x768.png 1024w, https:\/\/jmsc6110a.com\/capstone2024\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Children-play-at-a-local-park-in-Wan-Chai-Hong-Kong-768x576.png 768w, https:\/\/jmsc6110a.com\/capstone2024\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Children-play-at-a-local-park-in-Wan-Chai-Hong-Kong-1536x1152.png 1536w, https:\/\/jmsc6110a.com\/capstone2024\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Children-play-at-a-local-park-in-Wan-Chai-Hong-Kong-1080x810.png 1080w, https:\/\/jmsc6110a.com\/capstone2024\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Children-play-at-a-local-park-in-Wan-Chai-Hong-Kong.png 1608w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-4796\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Children play at a local park in Wan Chai, Hong Kong. Photo: Dan Wang<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For others, the bonus was simply enacted too late to make a difference. For Kary Fung, a mother of two who lives in public housing at Sham Shui Po, the HK$40,000 bonus for two newborns would have been enough to pay for 20 months of her HK$2,000 monthly rent.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cMy younger kid was born just a couple of months before the bonus was enacted, so I was pissed off when I heard of the bonus,\u201d Fung said. \u201cIt cannot help a lot, but it\u2019s better than nothing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The new cash allowance\u2019s help is still limited for mothers like Fung because it does not address couples\u2019 concerns over the insufficiency of resources for parenting, such as childcare services.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In Hong Kong, childcare services should alleviate parents\u2019 concerns over affordability as the costs are cheaper when compared to hiring a domestic helper. For instance, the cost of daycare services for a child can be as low as HK$64 per day, or roughly HK$1,280 for all the working days in a typical month. On the contrary, hiring a helper typically costs around HK$5,000 per month and the family needs to provide a food allowance and accommodation for the helper. Hong Kong is one of the most expensive property markets in the world, making it harder for families to afford a spare bedroom for a helper, let alone the helper\u2019s food and salary.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, there is a severe shortage of childcare services in the city. There were only about 2,000 daycare spots for Hong Kong\u2019s roughly 82,000 children who were under two years old in 2021\/22, according to a 2023 study by the city\u2019s Legislative Council. This means around 40 babies compete for every daycare spot.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Giving up the source of income to be a stay-at-home mom can be a tough experience among lower-income households. The Hong Kong Council of Social Service last year surveyed 411 lower-income mothers who opted not to hire any caregivers and to take care of kids on their own. About 30% of them reported experiencing postpartum depression.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Workplace discrimination<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Although the government has announced it would expand the capability of childcare services in the 2023 policy address, the fear of experiencing discrimination at work is another reason why women in Hong Kong hesitate to become mothers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Surveys from the Equal Opportunities Commission in 2018 showed that mothers with young children in Hong Kong are less favorable in job applications, leave applications, and promotion opportunities.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI cannot be promoted during or after my pregnancy. It\u2019s the same for everyone in the company,\u201d said Mrs. Ip, a 33-year-old mother in the finance industry who asked not to give her first name due to privacy reasons. \u201cThis is an unwritten rule in my company.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dr. Tai-Chor Au Yeung, an assistant professor of sociology and social policy at Lingnan University, called this kind of bias the \u201cmaternity penalty.\u201d To prevent such discrimination, he suggested that the employees could be more unionized to fight against labor issues, adding that employers should guarantee a better package of labor rights for workers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Working mothers have also complained about the length of paid maternity leave in Hong Kong, which is 14 weeks long by law. Lau, the mother of the 5-month-old baby who works two jobs, has already returned to work because her maternity leave ended.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe maternity leave is too short for me. I have to leave my daughter to the domestic helper when she is still so young,\u201d said the mother who even has to work in her spare time occasionally.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But she feels she has no choice. \u201cIf I don't return to work and quit my job, we will face financial pressure to only rely on my husband\u2019s income,\u201d Lau said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The government last raised women\u2019s maternity leave from 10 to 14 weeks three years ago. In August 2023, the Federation of Trade Unions asked the Chief Executive<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lee to further extend the maternity leave to 16 weeks but the government has yet to take action.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lau said it would be better if the government extended maternity leave or covered more of the cost for childcare services or school tuition fees.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For now, the HK$20,000 bonus sits in her bank account.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe haven\u2019t figured out how to use it yet,\u201d Lau said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Advisor: Cezary Podkul<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Yiyang He &#038; Dan Wang<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4796,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature-writing","category-society","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Why Aren&#039;t the Birth Boosting Policies Working? 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