The public consultation for Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu’s final policy address of his current term continues. Will he, for example, listen to people about whether child bonusone of the programs aimed at increasing the birth rate and which is set to end in October, should it continue? Lee said in an exclusive interview with the South China Morning Post that his government plans to “gather wisdom” before making a decision.
According to the chief executive, Hong Kong achieved a 10 percent increase in the birth rate in 2024, a year after the bonus was introduced. It was the year of the dragon, after all, traditionally the year for the most children to be born. But, by 2025, births had fallen by 15 percent to 31,100 – almost half of the 59,900 in 2015.
Maybe it’s time for the government to stop using the fact that our fertility rate is part of the “global challenge” in developed economies as an easy excuse and instead look inward to understand the obstacles that couples face here.
One thing the government must answer is whether it is willing to build bigger houses to make living spaces big enough for families. Officials are well aware that some of the most vulnerable people living in split-level apartments are those with children. How difficult is it to understand that if houses remain unaffordable and very small, it is very difficult to convince couples to have children?
“Wisdom” is many. Whether the government is willing to “collect” is another matter. The Hong Kong Future Economy Institute recently released a report titled “Smaller and Smaller”, which found that the average floor area of newly completed units was about three-quarters the size of a flat built in 1995.
The decline is noticeable. Public housing units have turned from family flats to smaller units; subsidized housing has shrunk from family-sized homes to “starter” units unsuitable for families.
