Monday, July 30, 2007
TERRITORY FACES FUTURE WHERE WOMEN OUTNUMBER MEN
By Robin Kwong in Hong Kong
Tuesday, July 31, 2007, FT
The trickle of mainland Chinese migrants into Hong Kong is having a profound effect on its demographics, as the government projects that in 30 years there will be just three men for every four women in the territory, writes Robin Kwong in Hong Kong.
The gender imbalance is expected to be among the worst in the world and will be a marked change from just six years ago when Hong Kong had slightly more men than women. The world average is about 106 men for every 100 women.
Hong Kong's demographic shift is expected to be the accumulated result of having 150 people each day – or 55,000 a year – emigrate to the city from mainland China.
With over 20,000 Hong Kong men taking mainland wives every year, the majority of Chinese entering Hong Kong on such “one-way permits” are women coming to the city to be reunited with husbands.
“This is the biggest factor affecting Hong Kong's male/female ratio,” says Fung Hing-wang, Hong Kong's commissioner for census and statistics.
By 2036, the addition of 150 people a day is expected to boost Hong Kong's population by 1.6m, and will account for practically all of Hong Kong's population growth over that period.
The gender imbalance is further exacerbated if the hundreds of thousands of foreign domestic workers who live and work in the city are taken into account. In the 25-44 age group, there will be just 55 men for every 100 women by 2036.
Hong Kong women, faced with the increasingly difficult prospects of finding a local husband, have already started looking across the border for potential spouses. There were 6,483 marriages between a Hong Kong woman and a mainland man last year. The figure is expected to rise in coming years. ¶ 11:54 PM
Tuesday, July 31, 2007, FT
The trickle of mainland Chinese migrants into Hong Kong is having a profound effect on its demographics, as the government projects that in 30 years there will be just three men for every four women in the territory, writes Robin Kwong in Hong Kong.
The gender imbalance is expected to be among the worst in the world and will be a marked change from just six years ago when Hong Kong had slightly more men than women. The world average is about 106 men for every 100 women.
Hong Kong's demographic shift is expected to be the accumulated result of having 150 people each day – or 55,000 a year – emigrate to the city from mainland China.
With over 20,000 Hong Kong men taking mainland wives every year, the majority of Chinese entering Hong Kong on such “one-way permits” are women coming to the city to be reunited with husbands.
“This is the biggest factor affecting Hong Kong's male/female ratio,” says Fung Hing-wang, Hong Kong's commissioner for census and statistics.
By 2036, the addition of 150 people a day is expected to boost Hong Kong's population by 1.6m, and will account for practically all of Hong Kong's population growth over that period.
The gender imbalance is further exacerbated if the hundreds of thousands of foreign domestic workers who live and work in the city are taken into account. In the 25-44 age group, there will be just 55 men for every 100 women by 2036.
Hong Kong women, faced with the increasingly difficult prospects of finding a local husband, have already started looking across the border for potential spouses. There were 6,483 marriages between a Hong Kong woman and a mainland man last year. The figure is expected to rise in coming years. ¶ 11:54 PM
