On Mother’s Day, let’s focus on better working hours and parental leave rather than just good wishes

Mothers are most deserving of our gratitude and admiration. The sacrifices they made and continue to make are enormous. As many mothers would say, there’s nothing quite as rewarding as motherhood. There’s no reason we shouldn’t take their word for it, but yet, we know Hong Kong has one of the lowest birth rates in the world. 

So, obviously, there are a lot of unspoken issues that need addressing. We must recognise that we put mothers on a pedestal every year, and yet we also express our sympathies and shake our heads at the horror show working mothers call life, and then we do nothing. 

We recognise the crushing demands of motherhood but we do little to alleviate mothers of these demands. We allow schools to demand higher levels of parental involvement while we let their employers keep them at work longer. 

Previous administrations talked about the importance of and efforts in getting women to join or rejoin the workforce and, yet, women are faced with a rising pay gap. The overall gap between men and women in Hong Kong went up HK$500 between 2004 and 2014. For post-secondary degree holders, the gender wage gap increased from 25 per cent to 30 per cent.