Lack of time, cramped apartments and financial pressures are making couples in Macao hold back from having children, a new survey has revealed.
The survey, carried out by the Macau General Union of Neighbourhood Associations, showed that only 27 per cent of residents plan to have one child or more.
Association representatives said that 1,643 residents aged between 18 and 50 responded to the survey, which was carried out online and in the streets from 13 to 21 May. Around three-quarters were aged between 26 and 40.
According to representatives, 29 per cent of the respondents have no children, 30 per cent have one child, 28 per cent have two children, 10 per cent have three children, and the remainder have four to six children.
Only 20 per cent of respondents who already have children said that they want to have more kids. They gave three primary reasons for not wanting to have more children, namely that they are unable to look after more children, that they face financial pressure and that their home is too small.
The findings showed that only 40 per cent of respondents who do not have any children said that they plan to have kids. For the 60 per cent who do not want to have children, the three main reasons they gave were that they want to have more private time, that they feel that looking after children brings a lot of pressure and that they simply dislike children.
According to the findings, about 26 per cent of the respondents think that it is wise to have only one kid in a family. Moreover, the respondents said that the biggest costs of raising children are living expenses, education and housing.
The respondents said they believed that family income, education policies and living environment are three main factors that affect a couple’s decision on whether to have children. The respondents listed three main favourable conditions that they thought would raise couple’s willingness to have children, namely 1) having more time available to look after children, 2) sufficient places provided by day nurseries, and 3) measures that allow couples to be allocated a bigger flat in the government’s subsidised home-ownership scheme in accordance with the number of children they have.
In the near future, the association representatives urged the government to roll out measures to protect residents’ employment with the aim of relieving local families’ financial difficulties.
In the longer term, the representatives suggested that the government promote the city’s economic recovery and diversify its economic structure with the aim of increasing the number of types of job positions available in civil society.
The representatives also said that the government should improve its nursery, education and housing policies and measures with the aim of creating favourable conditions to help parents raise their children, The Macau Post Daily reported.
