When it comes to maternity leave, Hong Kong is no beacon of progress for the rest of China

Alice Wu says local politicians who oppose the government’s idea to increase paid maternity leave for working mothers are a disgrace, and set us back in our effort to be a truly modern global city

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Lawmaker Felix Chung attends a Legislative Council meeting in July 2018. Chung opposes the government’s idea to subsidise employers to extend paid maternity leave from 10 to 14 weeks, warning that any such move would still be a strain on small businesses. Photo: Dickson Lee

Published: 5:03am, 3 Sep 2018Updated: 5:03am, 3 Sep 2018

Babies are adorable. But the trouble with them is that their mothers have the audacity to feel entitled to paid leave for having them. Worse, now fathers have the crazy notion of taking days off work, too.

It is no wonder, then, that a study conducted by the Equal Opportunities Commission has found that over half of Hong Kong employers do not want to hire women with children. It has nothing to do with competence. Women who are mothers are just not considered ideal employees.

For those of us who would like to believe that Hong Kong is a progressive and cosmopolitan global city, I’ve got some bad news. We can’t kid ourselves any more – not after the continuous assault on women and parenthood by people like Tommy Cheung Yu-yan. Cheung is not only the chairman of the Liberal Party, but also a lawmaker and a member of the Executive Council, the government’s top policymaking body that is now considering extending paternity and maternity leave.

Hong Kong’s legal allowance for such leave – 10 weeks for mothers and three days for fathers – is a disgrace compared to other advanced economies.

Lawmaker Tommy Cheung attends a Legislative Council meeting in May 2018. The Liberal Party chairman opposes a government proposal to increase statutory paternity leave from three days to five, claiming the benefit itself should not even exist, as demands for more would be “never-ending”. Photo: K. Y. Cheng

After attending the Asian Family Summit at the University of Hong Kong earlier this month, Secretary for Labour and Welfare Law Chi-kwong said the government has been studying whether it could pay part of the costs, thereby subsidising Hong Kong bosses, to extend statutory maternity leave by four weeks. That’s how desperate the government is and how bad we look.