Institutional Survey: Only 23% of Hong Kongers Willing to Have Children Due to Housing and Economic Issues

Central News Agency (Hong Kong, April 14) - A survey shows that only 23% of Hong Kong citizens currently have the intention to have children, while the remaining 77% do not. The top three reasons for Hong Kongers not wanting to have children are economic pressure, housing shortages, and busy work schedules. The Hong Kong Women's Federation conducted a "Hong Kong People's Fertility Intention Questionnaire Survey" between January and February, interviewing 1251 Hong Kong residents under 50 and 1062 Hong Kong residents over 50. The survey showed that among respondents under 50, only 23% expressed willingness to have children, a decrease of 5.1 percentage points compared to a similar survey last year; 77% of respondents explicitly stated they were unwilling to have children. According to the survey, the reasons for the low fertility intention among Hong Kongers include economic pressure, housing problems, and busy work schedules; 98.7% of respondents regarded childcare costs as the primary obstacle, 92.70% regarded housing shortages as a factor restricting fertility intention, and 80.60% believed that busy work affected their decision to have children. Lin Hui-ming, Deputy Secretary-General of the Women's Federation and member of the Social Policy Research Committee, said that from this survey, it can be seen that although the government has introduced many policies to encourage childbirth in recent years, citizens' awareness and evaluation of these policies have increased, but fertility intention has fallen instead of rising. "We must face a core issue: do the policies truly correspond to the reality of citizens' lives?" The Women's Federation has conducted similar surveys annually since 2014. Comparing data from the past 10 years, the proportion of those willing to have children was 68% in 2016, rising to 73% the following year, but then gradually declining; the proportion of those unwilling to have children was only 32% in 2016, falling to 27% the following year, but then continuously rising. (Editor: Chen Kai-yu) 1150414