22 Apr 2025 - Service Adjustment of FPAHK Yuen Long Birth Control Clinic (G/F) and Yuen Long FPAHK Anita Mui Health Centre (1/F) from 12 May 2025 (Monday)
31 Dec 2024 - Opening Hours of FPA Birth Control Clinics from January to December, 2025
14 Nov 2024 - The Association is NOT the service provider of FREE HPV Vaccination Catch-up Programme launched by The Department of Health for eligible female Hong Kong residents born between 2004 and 2008.
|
26 Jun 2012 |
Youth Sexuality Study 2011 (Aged 18-27 Youth Survey)
A growing uncertainty about marriage and childbearing and a falling ideal parity among young adults cast a shadow over the Hong Kong population which is already challenged by aging and low fertility, according to findings of the second part of the Youth Sexuality Study 2011 released today by the Family Planning Association of Hong Kong (FPAHK). There is a pressing need for a sustainable population policy, said the FPAHK.
1,223 youths aged between 18 and 27, including 595 females and 628 males, were polled from October to December 2011 in the Household Survey of the Youth Sexuality Study 2011. Conducted every five years since 1981, this study series aims to monitor patterns and trends among youths in respect of their sexual knowledge, attitude and behaviour. This is the seventh of the series and comprises of the Household Survey of youths aged between 18 and 27 (focusing on marriage, fertility and family formation) and the Secondary School Survey (focusing on love and dating). The key findings of the Household Survey were presented by Professor Paul Yip, Chairman of the Association’s Research Subcommittee.
Sexual Knowledge & Sexual Attitude
General sexual knowledge among the respondents showed slight improvement over the past 10 years. Both females and males scored an average of 10 out of 12 correct answers, compared with 8.8 and 9 respectively in 2001. About 85% of them regarded their own level of sex education as sufficient or highly sufficient.
The level of acceptance towards various sexual behaviours of others was lower than in 2006. These included public intimacy, male and female homosexualities, cohabitation without marriage, pre-marital sex, extra-marital sex, abortion, using prostitutes and prostitution. The majority of respondents did not accept bisexuality, compensated dating with or without sexual transaction, using or being a surrogate mother and circulating or sharing indecent pictures on the Internet.
Marriage and Family Formation
Approximately half of the respondents indicated they would get married in the future, slightly down from 2006. Those who were undecided increased by 10 percentage points to almost half of all respondents. Proportions of those who would neither get married nor cohabitate and those who
would cohabitate without marriage remained insignificantly small over the past two decades. The median ideal age of marriage was 27.4 for females and 29.5 for males.
The top major reason for not marrying or being undecided was being unable to find a suitable partner, accounting for about 40% of these females and 35% of males. The second reason was to enjoy the fun of single life, accounting for nearly 30% of both sexes, while the males gave a third reason of insufficient finances.
When asked whether they would have children in the future, over half responded positively, 10% responded negatively, and about one-third were undecided. As in previous several surveys, major reasons given by those not desiring any children included their fear of the responsibilities or financial burden of raising children, dislike of children and desire for a carefree life. The median ideal age of first childbirth was 29.2 among females and 31.1 among males. The ideal time of first childbirth fell between 1.5 year and 2 years after marriage.
As for ideal parity, two has been the most popular choice over the past two decades. Nevertheless, those who hold this ideal have seen a downward trend since 1996 with a notable drop in 2011. The proportion of these females declined from about 45% in 2006 to below 30% in 2011, and their male counterparts from 40% to about 25% over the same period. Those desiring one child also showed a slight and continuous declining trend. On the contrary, those who were undecided about their ideal parity or those who indicated to “let nature take its course” accounted for about half for both sexes in 2011, up from less than 30% for males and less than 20% for females in 2006. The average ideal parity has seen a steady decline from 1.8 among females and 1.9 among males in 1991 to 1.5 and 1.4 respectively in 2011.
Sexual Intercourse Experience
The proportion of respondents with sexual intercourse experience has grown steadily. The majority of them had no more than one sexual partner in the past six months, and were mostly in a stable relationship of marriage, cohabitation, engagement or love. 10% of male respondents said they had had sexual intercourse with Internet friends or new acquaintances. Among all respondents, the proportion of females who had their first sex at the age of 15 or below had more than halved from 4.7% in 2006 to 2.2% in 2011. The proportion of males remained at about 5%.
Over 85% of sexually active respondents practiced contraception in the past six months. Those who used male condom or oral pills as the main contraception had increased by more than 10% to approximately 90% as compared to 2006.
Pregnancy
10% female respondents had been pregnant, the same as in 2006. Their median age of first pregnancy was 21.2, slightly up from 2006. About half of these first pregnancies ended in childbirth, representing a remarkable increase from one quarter in 2006. Most of the pregnancies in this group were within marriage. In contrast, pregnancies ending in abortion showed a drop by 10 percentage points to about 40% following a continuous two-decade upward trend, and most of these pregnancies were not within marriage.
Abortion
About 5% of female respondents had had abortion, same as in 2006, and most of them had had one abortion. About 60% of them had their first abortion below the age of 21. The proportions of those who had had abortion in FPAHK and Hong Kong hospitals showed a drop whereas those that had had abortion in Mainland China increased when compared with 2006.
Professor Yip noted that the findings reflected youths’ growing uncertainty over marriage which, given their general idea that marriage should precede childbirth, would lead to a decline in Hong Kong’s fertility. Even among those who would get married, their increasing mean age of first childbirth and declining ideal parity could compound the fertility crisis. He said Hong Kong needed a sustainable population policy and urged policy-makers to address ways of reducing young people’s barriers to family formation, such as providing more affordable housing, childcare facilities, alternative education options and implementing family-friendly policies, etc. He also encouraged employers to adopt a family-friendly working environment and sharing of housework and child-care responsibilities between the couple.
Dr Susan Fan, FPAHK’s Executive Director, pointed out that given the female respondents’ ideal age of marriage at 27.4 with first pregnancy two years later, they would not have much time to achieve their ideal of two children because of the rapidly declining fertility of women from 35 years old onwards. Therefore, she reminded that young adults, especially women need to plan early.
Charts and graphs of the survey findings are downloadable in the Media Centre of the FPAHK’s Website (available in Chinese only). A full report of the Youth Sexuality Study 2011 will be published and the public will be informed when it is available for order. For information on FPAHK’s services, please visit the FPAHK Website at www.famplan.org.hk.
