In the past year, many mothers needed to work while taking care of their children, which brought a lot of extra stress for them. Womentors, acting as a sustainable partner, worked with JCI Hong Kong Jayceettes and Hong Kong Momtrepreneurs, to carry out a survey in May aiming to understand more about what these mothers are going through.
More than 100 mothers took part in the survey and some of the key highlights are as follows.
Firstly, long working hours per day. More than 85% of respondents need to work more than 8 hours. Due to the pandemic, mothers need to spend an extra 4 hours taking care of their families, which makes them feel very stressed.
Secondly, a lack of help from foreign domestic helpers. In Hong Kong before COVID, more than half of the respondents relied on the help from foreign domestic helpers to take care of their children. But starting from 2021, the number of foreign helpers has decreased from 400K to 370K because of the pandemic measures and restrictions.
Thirdly, the reasons behind the increase in stress. More than 80% of respondents indicated the difficulty of striking a balance between work and family. The main reasons are long working hours and the need to take care of their children with homeschooling. Their income has also been affected due to the pandemic.
Under Secretary Mr Ho Kai-ming, JP from the Labour and Welfare Bureau witnessed the pledge ceremony
Nearly 80% of respondents want to have an inclusive and flexible working environment, and 98% of them pointed out that their managers are sometimes not on board with these arrangements. Therefore, nearly 40% of respondents had to give up promotion opportunities and 63% of the respondents wanted to leave the workforce to take care of their families. However some of them continue to work because of financial incentives.
More than 60% of respondents hope the government can support them by increasing the maternity leave policies and launching more childcare services. More than half of them wish to gain their managers’ understanding and have flexible working hours. At the same time, more than half of respondents also hope that there will be more child learning support when restrictions are in force.
There are more than 60 companies that have signed up for our “Women Retention Pledge”. Womentors will continue working with these companies to support them in building better workplaces for their female talents.
Co-founders of Womentors Lena Wong and Maria Blanca and Under Secretary Mr Ho Kai-ming, JP from the Labour and Welfare Bureau
To learn more about Womentors and how we can help you and your companies in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, please reach out at hello@womentors.co
Companies that signed the pledge:
Genuine Treasure https://www.g-t.com.hk
Miss Spa Limited https://www.miss-spa.com.hk/zh-tw
LOGOS Wealth Management Group Co Ltd https://ec-insurance.net
AGAIN Communications Ltd https://againhk.com
JC Legal https://jcco-hk.com
Come Know (Asia) Ltd https://www.comeknow.com.hk/en/home-en/
DNA Perfect Match Limited https://www.dnaperfectmatch.com
Dynamix coaching and consulting https://dynamix.com.hk
Oh My Goodies HK https://www.ohmygoodieshk.com
Public Design Lab Limited https://www.publicdesignlab.com
The Events Team https://www.theeventsteamhk.com
SENSE Training House Limited https://www.sensetraining.com.hk
Achievement Foundation Limited https://www.achievement-foundation.org
Supertainment http://www.supertainment.hk
Brainstorm Content Solutions https://www.brianstormcontent.net
Luna Ear Spa https://www.lunaearspa.com
Dolce Sleepers Pediatric Sleep Consultation https://www.dolcesleepers.com/home
WHub https://whub.io
WorkCave Hong Kong https://workcave.hk
Anthea Cooper https://antheacooper.com
Cotton Pigs https://www.cottonpigs.com
Little Monkey Hong Kong https://littlemonkey.hk
Amplify Creative https://www.amplifyhk.com
Releaf International Limited https://releaf.com.hk
Man Mo Media Limited https://www.manmomedia.com
Samantha P on P http://www.samanthaponp.com/main/
Facebook Hong Kong Limited https://www.facebook.com/careers/
Golden Age Foundation https://www.goldenage.foundation
The Society for the Aid and Rehabilitation of Abusers https://www.sarda.org.hk/eng/index.html
Time Auction https://timeauction.org
ReThink HK https://rethink-event.com
Innovgoals Limited https://aubreeinnovgoals.wixsite.com/innovgoals/home
World Link CPA Limited https://www.worldlinkcpa.com
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