Train Hong Kong’s foreign domestic workers to be financially savvy, for the benefit of all

Lucinda Pike says given that foreign domestic helpers play an indispensible role in elderly and child care, more needs to be done to ensure they are able to avoid the many financial traps awaiting them in the city

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Foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong stage a rally asking for a pay rise and to meet Labour Department officials, at the Harbour building in Central. Photo: Dickson Lee

Published: 12:00pm, 1 Oct 2017Updated: 5:25pm, 1 Oct 2017

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor recently acknowledged the crucial contribution of Hong Kong’s 360,000 domestic workers to our city’s economic growth. She highlighted the problems Hong Kong would face without these workers, such as the inability for both parents to join the workforce and lack of elderly care. She’s absolutely right; one in eight households employ a migrant domestic worker – one in three households with children. With increasing difficulties recruiting skilled local care workers and limited options for child and elderly care, there are few alternatives.

Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung Kin-chung also recently said trained migrant domestic workers are the solution to our ageing population, stating that 40,000 households had migrant domestic workers solely living with and caring for the elderly.

Caregiver Nirmala helps Wong Mei-ying, 62, in Wan Chai. Some 40,000 households have migrant domestic workers solely living with and caring for the elderly. Photo: Nora Tam

Also last week, the Vietnamese consul general revealed that the city may be close to lifting a ban on migrant domestic workers from Vietnam, particularly to tackle the manpower shortage. Hong Kong is soon to welcome the first cohort of 1,000 Cambodian migrant domestic workers for the same reason.

The message here is loud and clear: by plugging the gaps in the care sector, migrant domestic workers are crucial for Hong Kong’s high-functioning economy, and the city desperately needs more.

Hong Kong ‘close to lifting visa ban’ on domestic workers from Vietnam, top envoy says

Despite the indispensable role they play in the workforce, many domestic workers in Hong Kong face a myriad of financial traps they are ill-equipped to deal with and which play a significant role in the exploitation they face.

Train Hong Kong’s foreign domestic workers to be financially savvy, for the benefit of all

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}Hong Kong ‘close to lifting visa ban’ on domestic workers from Vietnam, top envoy says

Hong Kong ‘close to lifting visa ban’ on domestic workers from Vietnam, top envoy says