TNAG-1856-FCO40-2631-Legislative-Council-of-Hong-Kong-memoranda-and-minutes-of-me-1989 — Page 195

HONG KONG

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL 28 June 1989 香港立法局————————————一九八九年六月二十八日

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meet the society's ever changing needs and demands. We know as a fact that a substantial proportion of females who leave the labour force did so because they have to take care of their children. According to a recent survey carried out by the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions, over 40% of the women being interviewed had to give up full time employment after having children. Around one-third of those being interviewed expressed dissatisfaction with the child care services currently provided by the Government and the voluntary agencies. The same survey revealed that many women would consider working again if more child care services and after-school care services are available within affordable means. For some time, we have been suffering from labour shortage. Our female labour force has increased over the years but it is apparent that the potential has not been exhausted. If sufficient child care services were available, I am sure that more women would and could join the workforce to alleviate the problem. Many people have suggested that factory employers should be encouraged to set up day care centres within or adjacent to their factories to encourage more women to work in factories. Many people have suggested to establish more child care centres in residential areas to facilitate working parents depositing their children before and after work. Many people have suggested that child care centres should operate more flexible and extended hours to meet the variable needs of working parents. However, other than a small experimental project relating to the last of these suggestions, the Administration has been slow to consider the other proposals. The Administration seems to content itself that the existing services coupled with local voluntary programmes on mutual aid basis already cater for the demand. Clearly this is not the case.

It is surprising to note that whilst existing family welfare services attempt to cover many aspects of care and protection of children and young people, one aspect appears to be particularly deficient, namely, after-school care for young children. For the time being, most kindergartens and primary schools operate on half day basis. Until such time when full day schooling can be implemented across the whole educational system, the many idle hours which students have after school present a problem particularly to working parents who are unable to supervise their children during the daytime. For these young children in kindergartens or at lower primary school level, they are usually left alone at home to play or study on their own with no one to render them proper guidance and supervision. The older ones would probably take to the streets, loiter and hang around public playgrounds and seek comfort in ganging up with their peers. As time goes on, these children will become more and more unmanageable. For this reason, many parents, usually the mothers, have to stop work to return home to render personal care and exercise supervision over their

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