REVIEW
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favoured the supply of labour in that age group. Overall, among females 15 and over, the participation rate is 49.5 per cent, rising to 79.7 per cent in the 20-24 group before women have their first child.
Education
Results of the 1981 Census showed a marked improvement in the education attainment of the population over the past 10 years, in line with those Chinese characteristics that demand the acquisition of ever higher standards as a means of achieving material and intellectual well-being. The proportion of the population with no schooling or kindergarten dropped from 20.3 in 1971 to 15.5 in 1981. On the other hand, the proportion of those with secondary or post-secondary education increased from 28.5 per cent in 1971 to 42 per cent in 1981. Those with only primary education decreased from 49.6 per cent in 1971 to 39.8 per cent in 1981. The proportion of university educated increased from 1.6 per cent in 1971 to 2.7 per cent in 1981.
The great efforts made in the 'Seventies to achieve free and compulsory primary and three years of secondary education are clearly beginning to bear fruit and satisfy a people who set a high price on education as a definite means of an end in life. Only at university level are we relatively weak - 2.7 per cent, as against double that figure in Singapore. Only two per cent of the 16 to 20 age group is getting university education. But in the 16-17 age group, Hong Kong has 61 per cent in full-time education compared with Britain's 46 per cent, and in the 18-20 age group, 23 per cent compared with Britain's 16 per cent. But the university figures in Britain are 15 per cent and in the United States 25 per cent. Twice as many Hong Kong young people, many of whom are eligible for government loans and grants for higher education, are going abroad to university as Hong Kong is educating itself. The situation is better on the technical front where eight per cent of our workforce has some professional or technical training.
But plans are afoot that could, by 1983, begin to remedy being too thin at the top. It is quite possible that the plans could include a crash programme to be drawn up to substantially increase the intake, and in some cases the facilities of tertiary education. But that wouldn't be easy because universities are quality operations and the people with the right inspiration and expense to do the job are hard to find.
According to the 1981 Census Hong Kong now has 257 896 people who were under- taking or have undertaken a professional or technical subject as their field of education in universities, post-secondary colleges, polytechnic, technical institutes, colleges of education and schools of nursing. Of these, 66 527 were in architecture and engineering, including design and industrial technology. The next biggest group of 55 619 are in arts and social science and the third biggest in business, commercial and computer studies, numbering 49 893. Education accounts for 29 305, medicine and health-related studies 23 400 and transport and other vocational studies, including social work and law was 14 588. Pure science studies accounts for 18 564.
Increased Income
On income, the 1981 Census shows that the proportion of Hong Kong households receiving less than $1,000 a month decreased from 70.3 per cent in 1971 to 9.5 per cent. On the other hand, the proportion of households with an income of $4,500 or more increased by 26 per cent. The overall median household income increased in the 10 years by 3.2 times from $708 to $1,425 in 1976 and $2,955 in 1981. Discounting the 1.3 times increase in consumer prices between 1971 and 1981, the real household income is estimated to have increased by 85 per