It is an indisputable fact that Hong Kong is facing a rapidly aging population and a large loss of young labor, and the problem of population aging is directly related to the sustainable development of a country's or region's economy and future. Because as the demographics become more top-heavy, the younger generation will be smaller and smaller, and will bear higher and higher costs to take care of more and more seniors.
According to the World Bank's 2021 list of about 260 countries and regions, Asian countries have the lowest fertility rates, with South Korea having a fertility rate of only 0808 ranks first from the bottom, while Singapore is fourth from the bottom with 112. China's fertility rate ranks seventh from the bottom with 116。Of course, if the regions are also counted, Hong Kong's fertility rate is only 077, which is lower than South Korea, which is the first from the bottom. But what is more interesting is that in the face of low fertility in the world, the fertility rate of European and American countries is higher than that of Asian countries, and the average fertility rate in Europe is 16, 1 in the United States7。Why is this happening?
Because after many people live a prosperous life, in order to ensure the quality of life, they generally choose to have fewer children or no children. However, the birth rate in Europe and the United States is higher than that of Asian countries, thanks to their friendly immigration policies.
Take the United States, for example, which has long been founded on a population policy that absorbs immigrants from around the world. Over the years, the United States has vigorously promoted immigration policies, and new immigrants contribute 50-1 million people to the United States every year, including the world-famous Tesla founder Musk is a South African immigrant, Amazon founder Bezos's father is a Cuban immigrant, and the two founders of Facebook and Google are all descendants of Jewish immigrants.
Of course, in addition to these typical representatives, the immigration policy is also more relaxed and friendly to the lower level of some Middle Eastern countries and poor countries in South Africa, because the fertility willingness of people in these countries is the highest in the world, even if these countries conflict with the traditional culture of Europe and the United States at the religious and cultural level, but if we do not absorb these people who dare to give birth, it will not be able to reverse the trend of population shrinkage.
Similarly, the quality of life in Asian countries has improved dramatically, but the fertility rate has not. In terms of absorbing immigrants, most people in the world believe that the moon in Europe and the United States is particularly round, and many developing countries in Asia are not as attractive as those in Europe and the United States.
To change the demographic structure, the effect of encouraging childbearing is limited, and absorbing new immigrants is the inevitable way. In order to protect the interests of some Hong Kong people, the immigration policy has been boiling frogs in warm water, and it is necessary to know that Hong Kong now has the lowest birth rate in the world. Since Hong Kong people do not want to have children, why don't they attract more people who are willing to have children to Hong Kong?Just like the words of "Comrade Man Jianghong and Guo Moruo": How many things are never urgent;The world is turning, and time is pressing. 10,000 years is too long, seize the day!」
Text: Wu Tongshan