Letters | More must be done to end inequalities Hong Kong’s elderly women face

Readers discuss how to celebrate the contributions of older women while improving their well-being and giving support to victims of sexual violence

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A cardboard collector passes by people waiting for a traffic light in Mong Kok on July 19. Photo: Sam Tsang

Published: 2:30pm, 30 Sep 2022

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The theme of this year’s UN International Day of Older Persons on October 1, “Resilience of Older Persons in a Changing World”, shines a spotlight on the achievements of older women in the face of lifelong environmental, social and economic inequalities.

This issue might not seem relevant in Hong Kong, where women enjoy the longest life expectancy in the world and have consistently outlived men since 1986, even as this gap narrows in other countries.

Yet the contributions and resilience of women in Hong Kong should come hand in hand with their well-being, which is about more than having a long life. Ageing well means having a happy, meaningful and satisfying life.

Indices to track well-being among the elderly, compiled by the Institute of Ageing at the Chinese University of Hong Kong from 2017 to 2020, tell a different story to those about lifespan. Compared to their male counterparts, older women reported higher levels of poverty, rated themselves poorer in health, had lower mental health and were more frail.

This inequality relates back to various social issues that are intertwined with Hong Kong’s development across the decades. Before the introduction of compulsory education, women had fewer learning opportunities. The labour participation rate is also lower among women, especially those who are married.