On May 19, the Hong Kong Family Welfare Society (HKFWS) released the “Hong Kong Happiness Index 2022” report, which showed the overall level of family happiness in Hong Kong has dropped significantly, compared with 2019 when the anti-extradition movement was happening.
According to the report, the 2022 index dropped to 6.10 from 6.31 in 2019, a decrease of 0.21, which is at the low end of the general level.
Along with the COVID pandemic, the unemployment rate in Hong Kong has continued to worsen, and household income shows that “the poor get poorer.”
HKFWS urged the new Chief Executive John Lee to promote family wellbeing in Hong Kong as a policy goal.
In January, HKFWS commissioned the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute to conduct a survey of 2,002 Hong Kong residents aged 18 and older who live with their families, using random sampling through landlines and mobile phones, to give their opinions on their family happiness rating.
This is the second time HKFWS has conducted a survey to measure family happiness since 2019.
The survey consisted of 26 questions covering 6 facets of the family including, family solidarity, resources, health, social connection, social resources, and work-life balance. It also focused on issues such as whether family income and relationships were affected by the COVID pandemic.
The survey scores ranged from 0 to 10, with 10 representing a high level of happiness. A score above 7.5 was considered good, 6 to 7.5 average, and 5 to 6 low.
Compared with 2019, the domains of “social connection” and “social resources” saw the biggest declines, with social connection down 0.86 points and social resources down 0.47 points. Among them, the scores in the three domains of the interaction between family and society were all rated poor.
The survey also found that families traditionally identified as more vulnerable, such as those with members in need of special care, separated/divorced/one-person households, or low-income families, scored lower levels of family happiness than other groups, and the drop was also higher than in other groups.
Family income and family happiness levels are closely related. Comparing the data in 2019 with 2022, this year’s results showed a big gap between the family happiness level of low-income and high-income families. HKFWS believes that the phenomenon of “the poor get poorer” is not only true in finances, but also in family happiness.
According to the latest employment data released by the Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department on May 19, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate from February to April this year was 5.4 percent, an increase of 0.4 percentage points from 5.0 percent from January to March 2019, and the underemployment rate increased from 3.1 percent to 3.8 percent, the overall number of unemployed (not seasonally adjusted) rose from 189,000 to 206,000.
Ms. Karie Pang, Director of the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute (Research & Fieldwork), said that due to the impact of COVID, the level of family happiness has dropped significantly in the past two years, but the starting point of the social environment in 2019 tended to be quite low. The expectation of improvement is not optimistic.
Pang also pointed out that the restrictions on social gatherings, school closures, working from home, and inability to get community assistance during the pandemic, have led to a sharp drop in the two domains of “social connection” and “social resources,” and lowered the total score.
HKFWS suggests that the government should formulate family-friendly social welfare, education, medical care, labor, and other measures to help society promote and foster family happiness.
On March 18, 2022, the United Nations released the “World Happiness Index Report 2022,” showing that Hong Kong ranks 81st out of 146 countries in the world, lower than mainland China that ranks 72nd.
