OpinionWhy helping Hong Kong’s low-income youth makes good business sense

Targeted vocational training and education would give low-income youth more options, while helping the city’s re-industrialisation policy

For far too long, the economy has depended on a rather narrow range of sectors and it has led to a frustrating lack of social mobility

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The well-being of Hong Kong’s bottom 1 million is under threat from precarious living conditions, mental stress and poor workplace welfare. Photo: K.Y. Cheng

Published: 7:15am, 24 Jul 2022

Some young Hongkongers are trapped in a cycle of poverty – one defined by skyrocketing living costs and unaffordable housing, a dearth of employment opportunities, and the sentiment that going off the beaten track is not the done thing in this city of constricted options. Theirs is an uphill struggle, when advanced education is necessary, yet no longer sufficient, for social mobility.

Much has been written on the need for the government to act. The underlying logic is familiar: the government is responsible for the well-being of all Hongkongers, and the well-being of the city’s bottom 1 million is under threat from precarious living conditions, mental stress, and poor workplace welfare. Paul Yip’s incisive article on the city’s youth provides many insightful recommendations.

Yet, I want to take a slightly different path here. Independent of what the new administration does, there are many concrete ways in which our private sector – businesses and investors alike – can help ameliorate the strains that afflict our youth.

But what’s in it for the business conglomerates, you may ask? Beyond obvious humanitarian reasons, there may also be pragmatic motivations at play.

A cohort of empowered youth, lifted from poverty, is likely to emerge as productive members of society – who can contribute to Hong Kong’s re-industrialisation policy and drive for greater productivity through innovation. Specifically, they could do high-end manufacturing jobs that have, for decades, been outsourced.

Besides, a more equal society, with fewer conspicuous barriers crushing the dreams of young people, is less likely to be beset with the doom and gloom that has shrouded our city in recent years.