International Women’s Day: financial anxiety a burden, as traditional Hong Kong gender roles blamed for less savings but more worries
- Recent data and warnings from social workers suggest that Hong Kong women tend to save less but need more money when they reach retirement age
- Calls made to break away from traditional gender roles, which can keep women from thriving in workforce, as costs and worries mount among those struggling to make ends meet
Wu Hongling, a 40-year-old single mother in Hong Kong with two children aged nine and three, struggles to make ends meet with her part-time job in a licensed mahjong venue earning HK$60 (US$8) an hour.
She was a full-time employee before giving birth to her second child during the Covid-19 pandemic. But after the young boy was diagnosed with a metabolic disorder and heart disease, Wu needed more flexibility to take care of him.
“With two kids, it is almost impossible to save any money. I bought some goldware as savings 10 years ago. It’s almost gone now,” said Wu, who barely gets by with a monthly income of HK$6,000 to HK$8,000, on top of help from some social welfare agencies and an allowance from her ex-husband.
“A retirement plan is for those who have a full-time job. For us, we just get through every day first,” she said.
Data and warnings from social workers suggested that women in Hong Kong tended to save less but needed more money when they reached retirement age.
As women were still bound by traditional roles, they were more likely to quit their jobs or take part-time ones to shoulder caring responsibilities, putting them at higher risk of not being protected by official retirement schemes.
One recent survey of 930 women in Hong Kong aged between 50 and 70 showed that more than 60 per cent of retired women did not have any retirement savings.
