Editorial | Childcare leave a step in the right direction for Hong Kong
Government move may not seem like much, but if the private sector follows suit it could, in the longer term, increase birth rate in Hong Kong
Childcare can be an expensive, vexing issue for parents with careers or who both need to work to achieve their goals. That in turn does nothing to encourage couples to have families, or for the birth rate in an ageing society. Any relief, however modest, is therefore welcome.
An example is the announcement in Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu’s policy address that civil servants would receive three days of childcare leave annually from next April for each child aged under three.
It is part of an effort to reverse a falling birth rate, including a one-off newborn baby bonus of HK$20,000.
The childcare leave measure is expected to benefit about 12,000 civil servants. In practice it is likely to be limited to two children under three at any one time and six days of childcare leave.
On its own it may not make much difference to the birth rate, but it will supplement positive sentiment created by other measures.
It remains to be seen whether some private-sector firms will add momentum by following suit.
