Posted on 04/20/2005 4:44:16 PM PDT by srm913
Making babies - the government to show how
Sylvia Hui
April 21, 2005
The government wants Hong Kong couples to have more babies - and it's spending more than HK$400,000 to show them how.
Following a controversial announcement last February that the government wants Hong Kong families to have three children each, the Acting Chief Executive announced Wednesday a consultancy study aimed at encouraging childbirth.
The HK$437,000 study - ironically, conducted by the Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention at the Hong Kong University - will examine the policies and practices of selected countries in encouraging childbirth, and the potential of adopting them in Hong Kong.
It will also look into the views, and worries, of Hong Kong people on childbirth.
Japan, Australia, the United States and Sweden are among the countries selected for the study, according to a spokeswoman from the Central Policy Unit.
Focus group discussions will be conducted among teachers, doctors and youth representatives, as well as with single and married men and women of different age groups and backgrounds in an effort to gain insight into the issues involved.
The study will also make reference to representative surveys and findings, which could provide crucial information on major concerns among married women about having children. It is expected to be completed by mid-year.
The move was announced by Donald Tsang in a verbal reply to a question put by lawmaker Lee Cheuk-yan.
In response to Lee's queries on whether changes will be made to labor policies to promote a better balance between work and family, Tsang said the government has no plans to lengthen the statutory paid maternity leave.
It also has no intention of reducing working hours and/or legislation on family leave to encourage more births.
``Any such measure will require a wide community consensus,'' he said.
Hong Kong has one of the world's lowest fertility rates - averaging out at just 0.9 babies for each woman.
The number of births has fallen from 63,300 in 1996 to just 47,900 last year, according to the Census and Statistics Department.
sylvia.hui@singtaonewscorp.com
That being said, Hong Kong does have an abysmally low birth rate. When I lived there, I saw a lot of people and not enough children. They're often seen as too big of a financial sacrifice to be worthwhile.
ping
i thought the chinese had been discouraging people from having more than 1 child. isn't housing a problem in hong kong also?
Why don't they let some of the other Chinese in, you know the ones that are only allowed one kid.
Fortunately, the one-child policy doesn't apply to Hong Kong.
Yes, the apartments there are small and expensive, but are more than adequate for at least two children, and the living conditions are infinitely better than third-world countries with astronomical birthrates. A 0.9 birthrate is inexcusable.
Hong Kong is the most densley populated area on earth.
I'd bet this is a factor. For comparison:
Hong Kong ..... 53,076/ square kilometer
London ............ 5,100/square kilometer
NYC ................ 1,728/square kilometer
Ooops, density of cities here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_selected_cities_by_population_density
It also has no intention of reducing working hours and/or legislation on family leave to encourage more births.
So the government wants couples to have at least 3 babies, and isn't offering anything like even subsided day care centers. Good luck.
Hong Kong is populated so densely that you might think rabbits lived there. In fact, that's not such a bad idea. If the good men and women of Hong Kong don't know how to procreate, I could teach them real cheaply with a video of rabbits copulating. Yup, that would do it!
Hong Kong is the most densely populated country in the world. Hong Kong is 50 times more densley populated than China. But China is trying to reduce its birthrate. Weird.
Insert Tab A into slot B. Shake vigorously. Continue whipping in a clockwise motion until stiff peaks form.......
LOL -- definitely a provocative title. But obviously not what they're saying in the article. That wasn't the case in Singapore a few years back, though, when the government there really did have to teach many couples the "mechanics" of conceiving children. Some had even been married for up to two years without consummating their marriages.
Holy cow! The Singaporeans could use a few pointers from the Utah Mormons.
(Although my parents only had two children.)
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