All work and no play: Hong Kong kids miss out on quality time with parents over summer
19 per cent of parents are so busy at work that they plan to set aside just three hours a week with children
Many children are expected to spend as much time studying this summer as on activities with parents due to long working hours, according to a study released on Tuesday.
Interviews with 528 parents of primary school children over the past month have shown that while 48 per cent expect their children to study for up to seven hours a week, almost the same proportion – 45 per cent – plan to spend less than seven hours a week on family time. More worryingly, 19 per cent of parents planned to set aside less than three hours a week with their children.
Ideally parents should spend three hours a day on activities with children
The survey by the Institute of Family Education reveals the damage caused by Hong Kong’s long working hours, which was cited by 38 per cent of parents as the greatest obstacle to family time. The city’s median working week in 2015 was 44.5 hours.
“Ideally parents should spend three hours a day on activities with children,” Dr Tik Chi-yuen, chief executive of the institute, said.
The survey shows only 23 per cent of parents are planning to spend more than 15 hours a week, or two hours a day, on family activities.
“Government and businesses need to enact the standard working hours legislation, otherwise Hongkongers will lose their work-family balance,” Tik said.
Christopher Yu, director of the institute, pointed out that quality of family time mattered more than quantity. “It makes a huge difference for parents and children to have 10 minutes of quality conversation every day, or doing active activities together.”
On a positive note, compared to the institute’s previous study in 2013, more parents (80 per cent) were happy with their relationships with children, although the children were on average younger in the 2013 survey.
And children may have more fun this summer than in 2013, with 8 per cent more parents planning to pursue sports and outdoor activities to improve family relations. Parents would also give their children more choice over their summer activities.
