Hong Kong – Thematic Household Survey Report No. 72 published

     The Thematic Household Survey Report No. 72 is published by the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) today (March 18).

     This publication contains key findings of the Thematic Household Survey conducted during October 2019 to January 2020. The survey collected information from Hong Kong residents on employees engaged under employment contracts with short duration or working hours, and employment of domestic helpers.

Employees engaged under employment contracts with short duration or working hours (“SDWH” employees)

     The survey results showed that some 203 500 “SDWH” employees were working in the non-government sector at the time of enumeration, representing 6.9% among all employees in the non-government sector. “SDWH” employees refer to employees in the non-government sector who worked for less than four weeks for their employers at the time of enumeration, and/or did not work at least 18 hours per week. They also include those who have already worked for their employers for four weeks or more and usually work at least 18 hours per week (but not continuously) in the present job at the time of enumeration. Among employees in different age groups, those aged 15 to 19 had the largest proportion of being “SDWH” employees, at 63.7%, followed by those aged 60 and over (11.9%).
 
     Of those 203 500 “SDWH” employees, some 155 800 (76.6%) usually worked less than 18 hours per week in their main employment. Of these employees, 133 900 persons (85.9%) did not seek job usually with 18 hours of work or more per week and among them, 101 400 persons (75.7%) would not take up jobs usually with 18 hours of work or more per week even if they were offered.

Employment of domestic helpers

     According to the survey findings, some 355 700 households were employing domestic helpers at the time of enumeration, representing 13.4% of all households. Among those households, 28 200 households (7.9%) were employing local domestic helpers, while 327 700 households (92.2%) were employing foreign domestic helpers.
 
     All foreign domestic helpers were admitted to Hong Kong to provide domestic service on a full-time basis, while nearly all of the local domestic helpers were working on a part-time basis. The median monthly wage paid to foreign domestic helpers was $4,500, while that paid to local part-time domestic helpers was $1,600. Among households with elderly persons aged 60 and over, 11.9% of them were employing domestic helpers. As for households with children aged 12 and below, 32.5% were employing domestic helpers, with most of them employing foreign domestic helpers. This was probably because of the need for full‑time helpers to take care of the children when the adults were at work.

     Regarding job requirements for domestic helpers, the job requirements most commonly cited by households intended to employ local or foreign domestic helpers were “cleaning and tidying up the household”, “buying groceries and cooking”, “washing/ironing clothes”, “taking care of children”, “knowing good Cantonese”, “knowing good English” and “taking care of the elderly”.

Other information

     The survey successfully enumerated target respondents in some 10 000 households in accordance with a scientific sampling scheme to represent the population of Hong Kong.

     Detailed findings of the survey, together with the population coverage and concepts/definitions of key terms, are presented in the publication. Users can download the publication at the website of the C&SD (www.censtatd.gov.hk/hkstat/sub/sp140.jsp?productCode=B1130201).

     Enquiries about the contents of the publication can be directed to the Social Surveys Section (2) of the C&SD (Tel: 2887 0592 or email: [email protected]).