Most parents will ignore Donald Tsang's call to boost population, survey shows
Less than 7 per cent of married couples would like to have three children, with 95 per cent blaming the lack of adequate welfare for the low birth rate, a survey has found.
Almost two-thirds disagreed with a call by Chief Secretary Donald Tsang Yam-kuen last month for couples to have at least three children to reverse Hong Kong's plunging birth rate, the lowest in the world.
Health concern group Health Link Promotions conducted the poll after Mr Tsang said the government was considering incentives to lift the birth rate, which has fallen to about 0.8 per woman of child-bearing age.
'The public think one or two is enough and they do not want to be burdened with the responsibility of taking care of children, which requires lots of time and money,' the group's director, Maggie Ng Mui-man, said.
Of the 624 mothers interviewed, only 6.7 per cent said they wanted three children. Sixty-seven per cent had one child and of these, 64 per cent said they would like two.
The family's financial situation and education for the children topped the list of major concerns before having a child, with 80 per cent citing these two factors as decisive when planning families.
