The Budget was released on February 22, 2023, which is also the first Budget after Hong Kong got rid of the disturbance caused by the epidemic, is an important direction for the current-term Government on how to promote Hong Kong's recovery from the trough. We welcome the Government's earmarking of an additional $100 million to strengthen support for women's development and increase community care resources to support carers. However, after the reorganisation of the government structure and the transfer of women's affairs to the Home Affairs and Youth Affairs Bureau, the budget for women's affairs is included in the programme "Youth Development, Social Harmony and Civic Education", which is unlike the previous budgets where there was a separate programme on "Women's Rights and Benefits" under the Labour and Welfare Bureau, thus blurring the focus of women's affairs. The Government should consolidate various women-related programs into a separate budget item to provide targeted support to women's needs. At the same time, the Government should strengthen the support for women in various aspects, improve the policy on carers, and put forward more direct and effective measures to help grassroots families and women.
Strengthening support for women and enhancing gender awareness
The Budget proposes to earmark an additional $100 million to strengthen support for women in areas such as restructuring the job market, providing training on caring for children or the elderly, and focusing on work-life balance and mental health. We are pleased to see that women's development has been included in the Government's policy blueprint, and relevant resources have been allocated to promote women's work. We hope the resources can be utilised appropriately so women in need receive appropriate services and support.
Assisting women for the transformation of the job market
Regarding the transformation of the job market, apart from providing support in the traditional labour market, we propose to provide incubation courses for grassroots women, guiding them to utilise the wisdom they have accumulated over the years to develop their businesses and providing them with the relevant knowledge in the process of business start-ups and employment, as well as professional support and venues, to enable women to join the economic market through another form of economic participation. We also provide business start-up programs, which are very popular among women and have successfully assisted more than 30 women in establishing their brands over four years.
Concerning women's work-life balance
Regarding work-life balance, we suggest that the Government should advocate and implement a "women-friendly workplace", promote job-sharing in both public and private organisations, and provide shorter and more flexible working hours so that childcarers who need to take care of their families can also have the opportunity and choice to work outside the home to supplement their family income. In addition, family leave, care leave, and parental leave can be introduced to take care of employees with different needs so that they can take care of their families and work at the same time. Besides, corporates can set up breastfeeding spaces to protect employees who need breastfeeding.
Providing training on taking care of children or the elderly
Although the 2021 Population Census shows that 92.7% of homemakers and 86.5% of unpaid carers are women, the responsibility of caregiving should not be the exclusive responsibility of women. Both genders should share the caregiving work in the family, so training on taking care of children or the elderly should not be one of the issues in the policy on women. We suggest that the work of the Policy Bureaux responsible for matters relating to women should be more clearly delineated. For example, in handling the duty of providing divorce support in current practice, the two Policy Bureaux will continue to be responsible for handling the issue of divorce, with the Labour and Welfare Bureau being responsible for providing divorce support and sharing parenting services; the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau dealing with matters relating to maintenance, and that two different government departments will handle the relevant policies, services, education and ancillary development. In the past, the Government has been criticised by service users for failing to give holistic consideration to the understanding, intervention and development of the issue of alimony, thus leaving women with no channel to seek help.
Recognising the needs and contributions of carers
We are pleased to see the Government allocate resources to recognise carers' contributions. We urge the Government to introduce more comprehensive carer-oriented policies and measures and to implement the relevant resources. Although the Carer Allowance will be regularised in October 2023, and the amount of monthly allowance will be raised from the current $2,400 to $3,000, the application threshold remains unchanged, excluding many carers. The Association suggests that the subsidy for carers should aim at recognising the contribution of carers instead of considering it from the financial perspective only and that it should be extended to carers of different types of care, such as child carers, and delinked from the "waiting list", and graded according to the level of care, to allow carers to apply for subsidy according to their needs and financial pressure, and to make a stable and strong commitment to grassroots carers.
Enhancing primary care for women
This Council also proposes that funding be allocated to include female/gynaecological diseases in the health assessment services of the District Health Centers in the 18 districts so that women can receive assessment and examination at the district level more conveniently and popularly. At the same time, mental health assessment should be included in the DHCs, where professionals will provide basic nursing consultation and education, and if necessary, referral to the district network doctors for further follow-up or specialist referral will be made. Referring to the concept of "one person, one family doctor" in the Primary Care Healthcare Blueprint, we should also provide "one woman, one doctor" for women of the appropriate age group and provide women's healthcare vouchers or service coupons for women, so that women can receive regular gynaecological checkups for early identification and treatment, thereby alleviating the healthcare burden of Hong Kong in the long run.
Recommendations
- Integrating different women's work under the same policy bureau and setting up a separate budget line to provide targeted support to women's needs.
- Providing entrepreneurship courses for grassroots women to guide them in utilising and transforming the life wisdom they have accumulated over the years into their own business.
- Advocating and implementing a "women-friendly work environment" by promoting job-sharing in both public and private organisations and providing shorter and flexible working hours to allow childcarers who need to take care of their families to have the opportunity and choice to work outside the home.
- Implementing a carer allowance to recognise the contribution of carers, instead of only considering from the financial perspective, and to extend it to carers of different types of care, such as child carers, and delink it from the "waiting list", and classify it according to the level of care, to allow carers to apply according to their needs and financial pressure, and to provide a stable and strong commitment to the grassroots carers.
- The health assessment service of District Health Centers in 18 districts has been expanded to include female/gynaecological diseases so that women can receive assessment and examination at the district level more conveniently and universally.