[01 Weekly Editorial] Young upper class hopeless to talk about social development

editorial

Written by: Hong Kong 01

2021-05-10 06:00

Last update date: 2021-05-10 06:00

Last Wednesday (May 5), the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Xu Zhengyu, responded to a question from Legislative Council Members on "The Income of Hong Kong Youth", citing data from the "General Household Survey" of the Census and Statistics Department, pointing out that from 1995 to 1999 The actual employment income earned by those born and received a tertiary education when they reach the age of 20 to 24 is lower on average than those born between 1970 and 1974. Among them, the income of those who have received a university education has dropped by 7.2%, and the income of those who have graduated education. Even more than 25 years ago, the income of those with a bachelor's degree was at the same level. On the contrary, the employment income of full-time employees with only a high school education increased by 19.8%.

These figures reflect that Hong Kong society is trapped in a structural problem in which young people cannot move upwards. The younger generation has fewer chances of getting ahead than the previous generation. Even if they receive tertiary education, they will not necessarily improve their living conditions.

In fact, as early as four years ago, the Hong Kong Government conducted a study on the same subject in the "2016 Semi-Annual Economic Report" and found that the average real income earned by those born between 1970 and 1979 when they reached the age of 20 to 34 Higher than those born between 1980 and 1994, the report stated at that time: "The real income of the youngest working generation group is slightly inferior to that of previous generations. The situation is worthy of attention, especially considering that the education level of this generation group is generally higher... The number of young people with higher academic qualifications is increasing rapidly. The current priority is to promote Hong Kong's economy to continue to develop in the direction of high value-added, and to explore new growth areas, so as to provide more development opportunities for the younger generation to realize their ideals. "Unfortunately, now Shinichi The employment and work of young people has not been improved, and the related problems have even deteriorated. How can the situation not be worrying?

When the Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor took office, he stated that the current government will do its best to do a good job in the "three industries and three politics" of youth, that is, pay attention to youth's studies, careers and home ownership, and encourage young people to discuss, discuss and participate in politics, but the specific achievements Everyone knows how.

When Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor took office, he stated that the current government will be committed to doing a good job in the "three industries and three policies" related to youth.

(Profile picture)

Government youth development work failed

Let's review the progress of the "Three Political Affairs" in recent years. For example, the "Youth Committee Self-Recommendation Program" which was specially written by the government. Not only is the number of participants and advisory committees extremely limited, but also funerals, cemeteries and temples are inserted. Projects that are obviously not of interest to youth.

As for the anti-amendment movement the year before, the main reason why a large number of young people participated was because they believed that there was no other way but to go to the streets to make the government listen to opinions; and after the district council elections rarely saw more new young faces, The authorities often refuse to cooperate with them in matters of people's livelihood that are not irrelevant.

Then let's take a look at the "Three Industries".

In terms of academics, the students in the past two years have been affected by the ineffectiveness of the fight against the epidemic, and have been forced to suspend classes frequently. In addition to the lack of supervision by the authorities, there have been situations such as cancellation of public examination questions and urgent reforms in subject design. ’S studies pose significant pressure.

In terms of careers, the data released by the authorities have directly pointed out that the real income of young people is not as good as that of their predecessors. In addition, the proportion of local unemployed persons aged 15-24 in the latest quarter is also as high as 13.5%.

In terms of home ownership, the New Forum and the New Youth Forum last year published the "Comparative Report on Housing Affordability of Different Generations of College Students in Hong Kong", pointing out that the salary increase for those born after 1985 was much lower than the increase in property prices in Hong Kong over the same period. Lower than the older generation.

This shows that the current government's "three industries and three politics" work for young people has almost completely failed, and the younger generation's academic, career, home ownership, political discussion, political discussion, and political participation conditions have all reversed.

Especially in the most important business link among the six, the government’s latest measures are actually the "Greater Bay Area Youth Employment Program" and the "Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Youth Entrepreneurship Funding Scheme" to send Hong Kong youth abroad. Hong Kong certainly has to cooperate with the country. For development, young people’s horizons and horizons also need to be expanded to other places, but these reasons cannot be used to cover up the failure of the government’s local youth development work, let alone an excuse to send them away in the name of "encouragement."

May I ask where in the world is the governing class willing to play the role of exporting talents instead of helping local young people who should be the future pillars of society stay for development?

Although it is largely the responsibility of the Hong Kong government that it is difficult for young people to move upwards, a group of high-ranking officials have never forgotten to justify sophistry to justify them.

(Information picture/Photo by Ou Jiale)

Depreciation of academic qualifications reveals industry problems

Although it is largely the responsibility of the Hong Kong government that it is difficult for young people to move upwards, a group of high-ranking officials have never forgotten to poke sophistication to justify themselves. For example, when Xu Zhengyu talked about the actual income data of Hong Kong youths, he deliberately marked it at the back. A few sentences "The average monthly employment income is easily affected by the extreme values ​​in the survey sample... When interpreting these figures, especially when comparing with past data, you must be very careful." It seems that after such an explanation, the value of youth education is depreciated. No longer exists.

However, the occurrence of "extreme" values ​​in statistical samples is sufficient to show that the disparity between the rich and the poor in society may be quite serious, and it may even represent that the industrial development of the local economy is too unbalanced, which leads to similar ages and education levels, but different backgrounds. There is a huge gap in the income of people in disciplines or industries.

By referring to the latest quarterly statistical report of the "General Household Survey" as the data source, we can find that this problem does exist in Hong Kong society.

The two industries "Public Administration, Social and Personal Services" and "Finance, Insurance, Real Estate, Professional and Business Services" have the highest median monthly income of employed persons in the fourth quarter of 2020. Unemployed formerly belonging to these two industries The population ratio is also the lowest; in contrast, the three industries of "manufacturing", "retail, accommodation and catering" and "transportation, warehouse, postal and express service, information and communication" have the lowest median monthly income for the same period. The unemployment rate of the three industries is the highest.

The gap between employment income and unemployment rate among various industries under economic difficulties is the best proof of Hong Kong's excessive preference for individual professions such as finance.

In recent years, government officials have used the term "knowledge-based, high value-added economy" to describe the future vision of Hong Kong's economy. Unfortunately, from their actual actions, "knowledge" is still biased towards traditional business-related parts.

For example, the "job creation plan" that mainly helps young people covers people with different skills and academic qualifications, but the authorities often emphasize that the plan includes a lot of financial services jobs in the private sector. The meaning is self-evident.

Even the local innovative technology and cultural and creative industries, which several governments have claimed to vigorously promote, have seen little improvement in development for many years; in particular, the amount of value added by the latter and its share of GDP have declined inversely after the current government took office. A place that intends to help the next generation build a "knowledge-based, high value-added economy" is really a joke.

With the end of this year’s Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination, another group of high school graduates will have to face the dilemma of entering university, burdening school debt, entering society, and working hard to find a job.

(Profile picture)

Social development cannot leave young people behind

Last week happened to be the "May 4th Youth Day." Several senior officials had made repeated speeches before and after they called upon Hong Kong youth to learn about the country and respect sovereignty. Then, you might as well ask them to listen to President Xi Jinping's 2014 "May 4th" "Youth Day" speech at Peking University: "Party committees and governments at all levels must attach great importance to the work of colleges and universities, always care and love the growth of students, and build a stage for them to let their youth dreams come true and realize their splendor in life. We must comprehensively deepen reforms and create a fair and just society The environment promotes social mobility, and constantly stimulates the vitality and creativity of young people. It is necessary to strengthen the construction of employment and entrepreneurship service systems, and support and help students take the first step towards society.”

As one of the local governments at all levels, does the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government really strive to meet the above requirements?

Looking at the world, the upward mobility of young people is becoming more and more difficult. It is a common problem that all developed countries and regions need to face. Hong Kong’s economic boom in the 1980s is no longer possible to replicate.

Take the United States as an example. Criticisms about the stagnant starting salary of college graduates and the uneven distribution of salaries among the social classes are equally numerous. However, the local area can at least be able to slowly increase youth income year by year, from 1994 to 201916 The real wages of employed persons aged up to 24 have increased by 18.3% per week; in the rest of the United Kingdom, Japan, Taiwan and other places, after discounting price inflation, the youth income figures can barely maintain a steady upward trend.

However, it is really not easy to find other examples in a place like Hong Kong where young people's income can be allowed to deteriorating for a long time.

With the end of this year’s Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination, another group of high school graduates will have to face the dilemma of entering university, burdening school debt, entering society, and working hard to find a job. However, the lingering spirit of the new crown epidemic will not disappear and the economic recovery will be indefinitely. Coupled with the plight of the past few generations of young people, how can this be done for them?

Many successful older generations can speak up about the development of local society, relying on their acquired experience, qualifications and status to lip service younger generations, but always ignore the basic principles that the environment of each era is different, and even Forget that the future will ultimately be in the hands of the next generation.

If you are sincerely thinking about the future development of a local society, you should never give up helping local young people lightly. On the contrary, you need to make every effort to promote the underachievers.

Please pay attention to the 264th "Hong Kong 01" weekly report published on May 10, 2021, which is available at major newsstands, OK convenience stores and Vango convenience stores.

You can also

click here to

sample the weekly e-newsletter and read more in-depth reports.

Youth Youth Employment Youth Policy University Student 01 Weekly Editorial Poverty