LettersThe mental health of Hong Kong parents can no longer be ignored
Readers reflect on the tragic deaths of a mother and her daughter and call on Asia’s hotels to prepare for the coming of AI booking agents
A child and adolescent psychiatric epidemiological survey published in 2025 shows that 24.4 per cent of Hong Kong children aged 6-17 have at least one mental disorder within a year, with depression affecting 10 per cent and anxiety 7.8 per cent of secondary students. Crucially, the study found that elevated parental depression and anxiety scores were associated with a significantly higher chance of child anxiety, depression, ADHD and disruptive behaviour. In other words, when parents are suffering, their children are much more likely to suffer too.
None of this is surprising if we listen carefully to parents in Hong Kong. The stressors they shoulder are intense and cumulative. Long working hours, job insecurity, high cost of living, and limited workplace flexibility leave many parents chronically exhausted. In dual-income households, time scarcity and work-family conflict are pervasive. Many are also caring for ageing grandparents at the same time – the classic “sandwich generation” – intensifying role overload.
The competitive academic performance culture can shift parents into the role of performance managers rather than emotional companions to their development. Underpinning all of this are strong cultural expectations around parental sacrifice; they reinforce the tendency to prioritise children’s outcomes over parents’ own psychological needs.
However, the data suggest this sacrifice is not sustainable. When parents feel persistently overwhelmed, the emotional climate at home suffers. Children absorb this atmosphere; some may develop anxiety or low mood, or act out.