To boost birth rate, Hong Kong needs to deliver quality housing

The public consultation for Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu’s last policy address of his current term is under way. Will he, for example, listen to the people about whether the baby bonus, one of the initiatives aimed at raising the birth rate and which is set to expire in October, should continue? Lee did say in an exclusive interview with the South China Morning Post that his government plans to “collect wisdom” before deciding.According to the chief executive, Hong Kong experienced a 10 per cent rise in the birth rate in 2024, a year after the bonus was introduced. It was the year of the dragon, after all, traditionally a year for more babies to be born. But, by 2025, births had fallen by 15 per cent to 31,100 – almost half the 59,900 in 2015.Perhaps it’s time the government stopped using the fact our low birth rate is part of the “global challenge” in developed economies as a convenient excuse and instead looked inwards to understand the obstacles couples here face.