The steering Committee on Population Policy released a consultation document on population policy, entitled "Thoughts for Hong Kong" in 2013. The document points out that to deal with the ageing population, Hong Kong needs to increase its labour force in order to maintain its competitiveness. One of the solutions proposed by the Committee is to encourage more home-makers to join the labour market. To meet the family needs of working couples, the document suggests encouraging more businesses to adopt family-friendly workplace practices. Dr. Lina Vyas, Assistant Professor with the Department of Asian and Policy Studies at The Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIEd) interviewed 1,005 employees aged 25 and above at their homes between July and October 2014. Almost 49 percent of those interviewed said they enjoyed a five-day work week and it is the most common family-friendly workplace practice. However, only 30 percent or less of the employees said they also enjoy the other types of family-friendly workplace practices available. Among these practices, the prevalence of individual measure varies considerably. For more information, please see attached for details. 
In 2013, the Steering Committee on Population Policy released a consultation report on population policy in Hong Kong. The report pointed out that in dealing with the ageing population, Hong Kong needs to increase its labour force to remian competitive. It proposed to encourage home-makers to join the labour market and encourage businesses to adopt family-friendly workplace practices to meet family needs of working couples. But how practical is the report? Are family-friendly measures common? Are the employees willing to utilise the practices provided by employers? Are the practices effective to support the employees? These are some of the questions that Dr. Lina Vyas tries to answer through her research. For more information, please see attached research findings.
Based on a recent survey conducted by Dr. Alex Chan Lih-shing, Lecturer with the Department of Asian and Policy Studies (APS) at The Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIEd), it was found that the young generations under 30 years old have a higher sense of political efficacy as seen through relatively higher active online political participation. The telephone survey interviewed 1,012 Cantonese speaking Hong Kong citizens aged 18 and over. The aim of the survey was to learn about the association of online media use with political interest and participation in Hong Kong. For more information, please see attached for details.
According to a recent survey, it was found that 57% of wage earners support delay retirement in Hong Kong. The survey interviewed 1,016 workers aged 25 and over. Head and Professor Chou Kee-lee and Lecturer Willy Huang Kai-wai from the Department of Asian and Policy Studies (APS) report on their survey findings to Yahoo News. For more information, please see attached for details or Click here to see article.
Head and Professor Chou Kee-lee and Lecturer Willy Huang Kai-wai from the Department of Asian and Policy Studies (APS) report on their survey results regarding support on the issue of delay retirement by wage earners in Hong Kong. For more information, please see attached research findings.
The Hong Kong SAR Government will soon release its report on retirement income protection system reform and universal pension is expected to be a topic under discussion. To examine the issue from another perspective, Professor Chou Kee-lee, Head of the Department of Asian and Policy Studies (APS) at The Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIEd), analysed data collected from over 8,000 households in Hong Kong and used a self-developed micro-simulation modelling computer program to project the number of older people who will participate in the old-age category of the Comprehensive Social Security Scheme (CSSA), Old Age Living Allowance (OALA) Scheme and High Old Age Allowance (OAA) Scheme from 2014 to 2041 and their expenditure. The impact of OALA Scheme implementation in 2014 on old-age poverty was also evaluated. This study is a 5-year research project entitled "Creating an Adequate and Equalizing but Affordable Retirement Protection System in Hong Kong", which is financially supported by the Research Grants council's Strategic Public Policy Research Scheme. For more information, please see attached for details.
Hong Kong is characterized by heavy workloads, a fast work pace and long hours. Work and family are the two major domains of life. An imbalance between the two leads to conflict. Surveys had shown that Hong Kong residents constantly struggle to achieve a satisfactory work-life balance. In turn, this has impacted on the city's population due to low fertility rates and an ageing population. If companies in Hong Kong can make a concerted effort to promote policies to ensure employees wanting to take up family-friendly incentives know it will not harm their careers, then such policies can improve work-life balance and also lead the government to take immediate positive measures to address the issue of low fertility rates in its review of its population policy. For more information, please see attached for details.
Sankei Express Press Article (12 February 2014) published by Professor Watanabe Takesato describes the Hong Kong experience and information sharing exchanges between his students from the Doshisha University and those from the Department of Asian and Policy Studies (APS) at The Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIEd). Both Professor Watanabe Takesato and APS' Dr. Alex Chan Lih-shing presented in the one-day seminar. The Sankei Express has a daily circulation of 200,000 throughout Japan. For more information, please see attached for details.
The Department of Asian and Policy Studies (APS) at The Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIEd) and Doshisha University, Kyoto, Japan held a one-day seminar on 7 February 2014. The speakers were Professor Watanabe Takesato of Doshisha University and Dr. Alex Chan Lih-shing of APS. The one-day seminar saw students from both APS and Doshisha University come together in an information sharing exchange. After his return home, Professor Watanabe Takesato published in his weekly column in the Sankei Express Press (12 February 2014) of his students' experiences during their Hong Kong visit. For more information, please see attached for details.
Date
2014-02-07
Venue
The Hong Kong Institute of Education, Tai Po, N.T.