Fewer Hong Kong youngsters with degrees land middle-class jobs, while more work as clerks
But researchers say drop in social mobility does not explain why this generation is more radical
Fewer young people found middle-class jobs compared with a decade earlier while the number of clerks holding degrees increased, a study has found.
But the Chinese University researchers said it was inappropriate to attribute this trend to the radicalisation of young people as they believed that social mobility did not affect political outlook.
Only 73.4 per cent of university graduates managed to secure a middle-class position - manager, administrator, professional and associate professional - in 2011, compared with 82.5 per cent in 2001, according to the study, which was published in the journal of a semi-official mainland think tank.
READ MORE: Hong Kong third-hardest place in the world to find skilled workers: report
Those who completed only Form Six and sub-degree courses found life even harder - 32.5 per cent landed middle-class jobs, a drop of 14.2 percentage points from a decade ago.
In contrast, an increasing number of degree holders - from 11 per cent to 18.2 per cent - worked as office clerks, an occupation that usually requires only secondary education level. Almost three in five youngsters who had completed Form Six or sub-degree level worked as clerks or services and sales workers.
The article came out just a week after a Beijing-friendly policy group, New Forum, found that the median monthly income of fresh college graduates had plunged by almost 20 per cent in two decades.
While acknowledging the problem of downward mobility, the duo said it was wrong to link the phenomenon with the radicalised young people taking part in protest movements, citing research by Chiu last year that was submitted to the government's Central Policy Unit.
The political attitudes of the younger generation was related more to their trust in the Hong Kong and central governments than their opportunities to move upwards, Chiu and Ip wrote, referring to the 2014 study, which found that only 24.6 per cent of people aged 18 to 34 were unhappy with the chances they were given in developing their careers.
The academics called on the government to introduce more subsidised university places to help young people. They argued that the problem of downward mobility might offer anti-government bodies an opportunity to provoke young people.
