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The Central Policy Unit today (November 1) released findings of the first Thematic Household Survey about the characteristics of Hong Kong residents having resided or having stayed substantially on the Mainland, their pattern of travelling between Hong Kong and the Mainland; and their pattern of utilisation of public services in both places.
Co-ordinated by the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD), the "Thematic Household Survey in the Fourth Quarter of 2004 - Characteristics of Hong Kong Residents Having Resided/Having Stayed Substantially on the Mainland" was conducted from November, 2004, to January, 2005.
A summary of the results included in the Central Policy Unit's report, supplemented with selected statistics on the spouses and children of these Hong Kong Residents as well as relevant technical details of the design and operation of the survey are set out in the "Thematic Household Survey Report No. 22" published by the C&SD.
The survey interviewed 10,254 households covering three groups of people: Usual Residents (UR), Mobile Residents (MR) and Short-stay Hong Kong Permanent Residents with a usual place of residence in Hong Kong (SSPR_U).
The survey looked at nine aspects and the major findings include:
Characteristics of Hong Kong Residents Having resided/Having Stayed Substantially on the Mainland
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An estimated 290,900 Hong Kong residents had resided or stayed substantially on the Mainland for at least one month in the past six months before the reference time-point of the survey (HKRM). Among them, 124,800 were UR, 119,300 MR and 46,800 SSPR_U.
As compared to the demographic characteristics of the Hong Kong Resident Population in general, a higher proportion of HKRM were males (69.7%), aged 30-59 (58.7%) and 60 and above (24.1%), married (65.9%), and among the employed, a higher proportion were working as managers and administrators, professionals and associate professionals (51.9%) and engaged in the manufacturing sector (32.3%).
Main Reason for Residing/Staying Substantially on the Mainland
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The five main reasons for residing/staying substantially on the Mainland were: engaged in work, reunion with relatives, having another residence on the Mainland, retirement, and studying.
Experience of Staying and Living Conditions on the Mainland
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More than half (55%) of the HKRM had stayed on the Mainland for three to six months in the past six months and the average duration was 2.9 months.
The majority of the HKRM (82.2%) usually stayed in Guangdong province. Among the HKRM, 24.4% stayed in Shenzhen, 19.2% in Dongguan and 18.4% in Guangzhou (including Panyu).
Adaptation to Living on the Mainland
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58.1% of the HKRM claimed that there was no particular change which they regarded as happy to accept when staying on the Mainland. The majority of the HKRM (85.9%) reported that they had not encountered any major difficulty during their stay on the Mainland either on first arrival or now.
Connection with Hong Kong
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While 59.3% of the HKRM had visited Hong Kong at least once a month or more during the past six months, 35.6% had visited Hong Kong less than once a month and 4.8% had not visited Hong Kong.
It was noted that employed people tended to make more visits to Hong Kong (24.7% at least once a week), while retired people tended to visit Hong Kong less frequently (2% at least once a week).
Utilisation of Social Services in Hong Kong and on the Mainland
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Findings indicated that 47.2% of the 290,900 HKRM had not utilised any of the social and medical services in Hong Kong or on the Mainland in the past six months.
A higher proportion of the HKRM reported to have used the hospital services in Hong Kong (8.1%) as opposed to the Mainland (3.1%). 40.9% had consulted medical practitioners in Hong Kong in the past six months whereas the corresponding percentage in the Mainland was much lower, at 24.2%.
Utilisation of Other Public Services in Hong Kong
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The survey found that 38.6% of the HKRM were living in public rental housing in Hong Kong, which was relatively higher as compared to 30.8% for the general population. More of those who were living in public rental housing in Hong Kong tended to reside/stay substantially on the Mainland for the reason of reunion with relatives.
Only 3.8% of the HKRM aged 15 or above had claimed the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance, which was much lower than the corresponding territorial average of 7.2%.
Characteristics of Spouses
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Among the 191,600 spouses of the HKRM, 50.7% were aged 30-49 and 56.4% were economically inactive, with a relatively higher proportion being homemakers (41.1%) and 74.5% were females.
In terms of the current place of residence, the majority of spouses usually stayed in Hong Kong (79.3%) while 19.6% usually stayed on the Mainland.
Characteristics of Children
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Of the 125,700 children aged below 21 of the HKRM, most of them were aged below 15, with 18.3% being born on the Mainland. Most of the children were living in Hong Kong (85.9%) while 12.2% usually lived on the Mainland.
Other than the 290,900 URs, MRs and SSPR_Us as covered in this survey, it is also estimated from administrative data that there were 121,200 Short-stay Hong Kong Permanent Residents living on the Mainland without a usual place of residence in Hong Kong, and some 74,000 Hong Kong Permanent Residents who had not returned to Hong Kong from the Mainland in the six-month period before the survey. Taking these three groups into account, it could be concluded that a total of 486,100 Hong Kong residents resided/substantially stayed on the Mainland.
The summary report of the survey has been uploaded onto the Central Policy Unit's website at http://www.info.gov.hk/cpu.
"The Thematic Household Survey Report No. 22" is available in both print version and download version (in PDF format), for sale at $41 and $30.8 respectively. It can be purchased online at the "Statistical Bookstore, Hong Kong" (http://www.statisticalbookstore.gov.hk). For purchase of the print version, this can be done through mail order by returning a completed order form which can be downloaded from the C&SD's website (http://www.info.gov.hk/censtatd/eng/prod_serv/forms_index.html). Purchase can also be made in person at the Publications Unit of the C&SD (Address: 19/F, Wanchai Tower, 12 Harbour Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong; Tel: 2582 3025).
Ends/Tuesday, November 1, 2005
Issued at HKT 10:31
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