Satellite towns face struggle to cope with elderly populations
Government urged to plan ahead as areas with fastest-growing number of residents over 65 face a shortage of homes and welfare facilities
Satellite towns built since the 1970s will bear the brunt of the boom in Hong Kong’s elderly population over the next five years, with the number of residents over 65 expected to grow by more than a third.
The rates of growth in the number of elderly in Tuen Mun, Tai Po and Sha Tin will range from 34 to 41 per cent, compared to just 20 per cent in older districts. The figures emerged from a South China Morning Post analysis of the latest projections by the Census and Statistics Department.
Despite the likely growth indicated by the government’s own figures, only five of the 11 sites earmarked in the policy address for the construction of new homes for the elderly this year were in the three towns.
Others are in Sham Shui Po, Tsuen Wan, Yuen Long and Sheung Shui.
Also, little is known about the economic background of those turning 60 or 65 by 2018.
The Post approached the Labour and Welfare Bureau, Development Bureau, Education Bureau, and Census and Statistics Department, but none could give such details.
Chairman of the Elderly Commission Alfred Chan Cheung-ming said the government needed to collect more data and plan ahead to address the issue.