Hong Kong women not into motherhood
Wed, November 12 2008
Hong Kong's birthrate is already less than one child per woman copyThe population crisis in Hong Kong is likely to worsen, suggests a new survey showing that nearly four in 10 women want only one child or no children at all.
The study by the Hong Kong Family Planning Association found a growing trend towards childlessness in the wealthy city, which already has one of the world’s lowest birth rates.
Of the 1,500 women interviewed, 26 per cent said they wanted only one child, compared with 10 per cent in 1992, and 13 per cent said they wanted no children, compared with five per cent in 1992. Less than half of women wanted two children, a decrease of more than 10 per cent from 1992.
Hong Kong’s birthrate is already less than one child per woman, compared with about three in the 1980s. The government is facing twin problems of an ageing population and a general labour shortage. Limited living space and high living costs are triggers for lower birth rates.