Hong Kong TV campaign to promote big families

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Hong Kong TV campaign to promote big families
(DPA)

1 December 2006



HONG KONG - A TV campaign to promote parenthood in Hong Kong was under way Friday to counter the city’s tumbling birth rate, which is now one of the lowest in the world.


Two advertisements showing the joys of newborn babies began screening on prime time TV from Thursday night in the city of 6.8 million where the average number of children per family is only 0.9.

The short films show a small boy watching his pregnant mother and looking forward to a bigger family and a father and son preparing for the birth of a new child.

The advertisements have been produced by the territory’s Family Planning Association which says it is not trying to directly promote bigger families but rather to highlight their positive aspects.

China’s one-child policy does not apply to the former British colony but family sizes have shrunk dramatically because of limited home space, high education costs and a trend of marrying late.

Hong Kong’s family size has tumbled from nearly three children in 1980 and the city now faces a population crisis with people aged over 64 expected to account for nearly half the population by 2033.

Birth rates are falling globally but Hong Kong’s rate of 0.9 per woman is one of the lowest in the world, comparing to 1.6 in the UK and 1.3 in Germany.

The Family Planning Association says it wants the advertisements to encourage parents to plan ahead and gives them the option of a bigger family before they are too old.

Hong Kong’s chief executive Donald Tsang last year made a more direct appeal, saying couples should aim to have three children each to combat the ageing population.

In an interview with Friday’s South China Morning Post, Family Planning Association vice-chairman Linda Lo said the advertisements were intended to convey ‘a positive image to couples about having children.’

‘Having children is not that horrible,’ she said. ‘Although the intention of the advertisements is not to urge people to have more children, they do talk about the joy of having a baby if couples plan ahead.’