A woman walks past a signboard at a baby and children products expo at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai on October 22. Photo: Felix Wong A woman walks past a signboard at a baby and children products expo at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai on October 22. Photo: Felix Wong
A woman walks past a signboard at a baby and children products expo at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai on October 22. Photo: Felix Wong
Mengni Chen
Opinion

Opinion

Mengni Chen and Paul Yip

How Hong Kong, Singapore and other high-income Asian societies can defuse their demographic time bomb

  • With research findings suggesting an increase in the marriage rate of women aged 25-29 can significantly raise the total fertility rate, governments should do more to remove barriers for those who want to wed

Mengni ChenPaul Yip
Mengni Chen and Paul Yip

Updated: 9:40am, 12 Jan, 2021

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A woman walks past a signboard at a baby and children products expo at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai on October 22. Photo: Felix Wong A woman walks past a signboard at a baby and children products expo at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai on October 22. Photo: Felix Wong
A woman walks past a signboard at a baby and children products expo at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai on October 22. Photo: Felix Wong
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Mengni Chen

Mengni Chen

Mengni Chen is a research scientist in the Institute of Sociology and Social Psychology at Cologne University in Germany. She is also a research officer in the Centre of Demographic Research at the University of Louvain and National Fund Institute of Scientific Research in Belgium. Her interests include marriage and family in East Asia, population dynamics and economic development, and social policies. She obtained her PhD from the University of Hong Kong in 2017.

Paul Yip

Paul Yip

Paul Yip is the founding director of the Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention at the University of Hong Kong, and a professor at the university's Department of Social Work and Social Administration. His interests include suicide prevention, population health and poverty research. He serves as the secretary general of the Asian Population Association and the research chair of the Family Planning Association of Hong Kong. He was a part-time member of the Central Policy Unit and a member of the Hong Kong government's Steering Committee on Population Policy.