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Students have returned to schools after long spells of off-and-on class suspensions due to the coronavirus pandemic. Photo: Winson Wong

Grounded by Covid-19, children and teens are the unhappiest people in Hong Kong, survey finds

  • The city’s overall happiness rating, calculated by the non-profit group HK.WeCARE, was roughly the same as last year’s, but down from 2018 and 2017
  • Researchers mostly blame pandemic for downturn among young people, but say lingering disappointment over last year’s protests also plays a part
After months of suspended classes and stunted social lives amid the ongoing pandemic, children and teens are Hong Kong’s unhappiest people this year, a survey has found.
Working on a scale of zero to 10, the non-profit group HK.WeCARE has determined the city’s overall happiness index this year to be 6.16, a tiny increase from last year’s 6.15, but still a substantial drop from 6.54 in 2018 and 6.4 in 2017.
While the city was rocked by months of often-violent anti-government protests starting in June of 2019, researchers said they believed the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic was the biggest cause of unhappiness this year, with Hongkongers shut in by travel bans and everyday life impeded by local social-distancing measures.

“People are more unhappy about the impact of Covid-19, which changed every aspect of society and life,” survey leader Dr Simon Lam Ching, an assistant professor at Polytechnic University’s school of nursing, said on Monday.

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Out of 1,827 respondents, 48.5 per cent gave a happiness score of seven or above, while 18.2 per cent gave a score of four or below. The survey was conducted online in September.

The survey found that young people aged 12 to 18 had an average score of 5.87 on the happiness index, the lowest of all age groups this year. People aged 55 and older, meanwhile, were the happiest, with an average score of 6.61.

Working-class people – historically the most unhappy group, according to results from previous years – scored 6.21.

Lam said the surprising finding could be attributed to long-term school closures during the pandemic, which forced students to stay home and restricted their social activities.

“It’s quite sad to know that children and students should be happier compared to older people, but because of Covid-19 and school suspensions, it contributed to their emotional burdens further,” he said.

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With younger people forced to stay home, said Dr Tik Chi-yuen, co-chair of HK.WeCARE, women might have been under greater pressure to take up more responsibilities, such as increased time taking care of children.

Women scored a 6.1 on this year’s index, down from 6.22 last year. Men scored 6.24 this year, an increase from 6.07 last year.

“We don’t have the figures to correlate the unhappiness levels between younger people and women, but [the effects of the pandemic] could be one of the reasons. Women in general are already pressured by work and home affairs,” he said.

According to Sylvia Chan May-kuen, also a co-chair of the NGO, another reason for unhappiness among younger people was lingering dissatisfaction with the government over its handling of last year’s protest movement, which drew large numbers of young supporters.

Students hold a joint demonstration in Kwun Tong to mark the one-year anniversary of the start of last year’s protests in June. Photo: Nora Tam

The protests began in June in opposition to a deeply unpopular bill that would have allowed suspects to be extradited to mainland China, though they soon expanded to include calls for greater police accountability and universal suffrage.

While the extradition bill was ultimately scrapped, the movement’s other demands went unanswered.

“The government should try to pay more attention to the concerns of citizens, especially young people. We hope there can be more communication and transparency from them,” Chan said.

She also recommended Hongkongers get more involved in the community and help out others if they wanted to improve their happiness levels.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Survey finds youngsters are unhappiest people in city
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