The Salvation Army has found that about half the people in Hong Kong would prefer to hire domestic workers or nursing personnel to take care of their elderly parents than do it themselves.
In a survey of 707 Hong Kong residents who don’t need to take care of their parents, most obtained four out of five marks, which means they were willing to take care of their parents’ medical, nursing and financial needs, Headline Daily reported.
However, about half prefered to hire domestic workers or nursing personnel to meet their needs, while the son or the daughter only play a management or coordination role.
The Salvation Army Hong Kong commissioned the Public Opinion Programme (POP) at the University of Hong Kong to conduct the survey in July and telephone interviewed 707 people.
The survey found 60% did not talk about the arrangement with their parents. Meanwhile, the survey also interviewed 314 people who were supporting their parents.
A total of 40% said they feel pressure as they also need to work or have own family to take care of. Up to 30% said they don’t have adequate personal time, while 25% said they were nervous when their parents were with them.
The non-profit organization suggested the government formulate a forward-looking manpower strategy to improve the long-term caring service quality for the elderly, adding that more community support should also be launched to assist care-takers.
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