The number of couples without children has overtaken one-child families in Hong Kong, a local non-profit organisation has found, with the average number of children per woman plunging to a record low of 0.9.
The questionnaire, conducted by the Family Planning Association of Hong Kong, surveyed 1,502 women who are married or living with their partner between September and December 2022, as well as their partners.
Among them, women with no children made up 43.2 per cent of respondents, up from 20.6 per cent in 2017, the last time the survey was done. The number of women with one child decreased from 38.3 per cent to 27.4 per cent.
Meanwhile, the average number of children per women was 0.91, down from 1.28 in 2017. The figure was 3.3 in 1972, according to the association.
In April, the United Nations Population Fund reported that Hong Kong had the lowest fertility rate in the world.
The Family Planning Association has conducted this survey every five years since 1967 to monitor family planning trends, it said. The 2022 survey was the 12th in the series.
Ideal number of children
The survey also looked into the ideal number of children that respondents desired. The average number of children that women wanted to have was 1.47, a decrease from 1.59 in 2017.
The figure for surveyed men was similar at 1.45, down from 1.61 in 2017.
Women desiring children, or wanting more children, increased from 15.3 per cent in 2017 to 22 per cent. However, women who desired no children or no more children were still the majority, making up 55.2 per cent of the respondents. About one-fifth of the respondents said they did not know, or were undecided, if they wanted children or desired more children.
Respondents who said they did not want children, or wanted just one child, were also asked why. Around 52 per cent of women and 49 per cent of men said they themselves or their spouse did not like children, emerging as the most common reason. The second-most popular reason was that the responsibility of raising children was too large, with 23.5 per cent of women and 20.9 per cent citing that as a factor.
The association said they hoped to see more services, including pre-pregnancy and fertility related healthcare, in the community to support couples desiring children and to make having children more accessible.
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