Fertility Intention in Hong Kong: Declining Trend and Associated Factors

IF 2.8 3区社会学 Q1 SOCIAL SCIENCES, INTERDISCIPLINARY

Applied Research in Quality of Life Pub Date : 2024-02-27 DOI:10.1007/s11482-024-10292-2

Mengtong Chen, Camilla Kin Ming Lo, Qiqi Chen, Ko Ling Chan, Patrick Ip

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Abstract

Hong Kong is characterized by extremely low fertility, with a total fertility rate of 0.701 in 2022. This paper reports significant declines in the intention to have children among non-parents and in the desire to have more children among parents, based on data from the Family Surveys conducted in Hong Kong in 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2017, which imply more dramatic demographic changes in the future. Drawing on the theory of planned behavior (TPB), this paper explored individuals’ attitudes toward marriage and having children, family functioning variables indicating subjective norms regarding fertility, and housing status and parenting stress relating to individuals’ control over fertility behavior. The results show that among non-parent respondents, being older and possessing a secondary education were associated with a lower level of fertility intention, whereas being a tenant, having positive attitudes toward marriage and having children, and having higher levels of family mutuality and harmony were associated with a higher level of fertility intention. Among parent respondents, parenting stress significantly inhibited the desire to have more children, regardless of financial matters and family environment. The findings suggest that fertility intentions can be remade over the life course. This paper, based on the TPB framework, can help guide the development and adoption of policies and supportive programs to improve fertility intentions in Hong Kong.

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香港的生育意愿：下降趋势及相关因素

香港的生育率极低，2022 年的总和生育率为 0.701。本文根据 2011 年、2013 年、2015 年和 2017 年在香港进行的家庭调查数据，报告了非父母的生育意愿和父母生育更多子女的愿望的显著下降，这意味着未来人口结构将发生更剧烈的变化。本文以计划行为理论（TPB）为基础，探讨了个人对婚姻和生育子女的态度、表明生育主观规范的家庭功能变量，以及与个人控制生育行为有关的住房状况和养育压力。结果显示，在非父母受访者中，年龄越大、受过中等教育的受访者生育意愿越低，而租房、对结婚生子持积极态度、家庭相互性与和谐程度越高的受访者生育意愿越高。在父母受访者中，无论经济状况和家庭环境如何，养育子女的压力都会明显抑制生育更多子女的意愿。研究结果表明，生育意愿可以在生命过程中重新形成。本文基于 "生育意愿理论 "框架，有助于指导香港制定和采用相关政策和支持计划，以改善生育意愿。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Applied Research in Quality of Life SOCIAL SCIENCES, INTERDISCIPLINARY-

CiteScore

6.40

自引率

11.80%

发文量

期刊介绍： The aim of this journal is to publish conceptual, methodological and empirical papers dealing with quality-of-life studies in the applied areas of the natural and social sciences. As the official journal of the ISQOLS, it is designed to attract papers that have direct implications for, or impact on practical applications of research on the quality-of-life. We welcome papers crafted from interdisciplinary, inter-professional and international perspectives. This research should guide decision making in a variety of professions, industries, nonprofit, and government sectors, including healthcare, travel and tourism, marketing, corporate management, community planning, social work, public administration, and human resource management. The goal is to help decision makers apply performance measures and outcome assessment techniques based on concepts such as well-being, human satisfaction, human development, happiness, wellness and quality-of-life. The Editorial Review Board is divided into specific sections indicating the broad scope of practice covered by the journal. The section editors are distinguished scholars from many countries across the globe.