Yuk King Lau

Parent-Child Relationships, Parental Relationships and Children's Self-Esteem in Post-Divorce Families in Hong Kong

Abstract In recent research on post-divorce families in Hong Kong, there has been a shift away from the assumption of pathology, and in favor of a trend of increasing attention to childrens resilience and the benefits of a continuous parental relationship. There remains, however, a lack of empirical knowledge to guide social work practices in this area in contemporary Hong Kong. The present study is designed to examine how childrens relationships with both parents and the different patterns of parental relationships impact childrens self-esteem. Sixty-nine post-divorce families participated in the survey. The findings of a positive impact of quality relationship with both parents supported the promotion of active involvement of both parents. The likelihood of increased parental conflicts, however, makes the co-parental involvement a double-edged sword as far as the children are concerned, while an avoidance/low-conflict pattern of parental relationship is found to be the most beneficial pattern for the children. To enhance the well-being of children, a secure residential parent-child relationship with a noncompetitive nonresidential parent-child relationship is deemed beneficial.

A resilience perspective on family adjustment to cross‐border work arrangements of Hong Kong residents

With the close economic relationship between Hong Kong and the Mainland, cross‐border commutes for work have become an increasingly common work‐family arrangement for Hong Kong residents. Due to the special social context of Mainland China, the impact of the cross‐border work arrangement is mostly understood in terms of the cost or its negative impact on the families involved. However, this overlooks positive adjustment and its protective factors, which are present in many families. A clear conceptual framework is also lacking in previous studies. The different perspectives on work‐related mobility and family adjustment are reviewed. The resiliency perspective helps to provide a more inclusive understanding of the phenomenon. Based on the findings of in‐depth interviews with 20 families, this paper discusses the protective factors of family adjustment in relation to the cross‐border arrangements of Hong Kong residents. 随着香港与内地密切经济关系的建立，跨境工作已成为一种越来越常见于香港居民的工作与家庭安排。由于中国大陆特殊的社会环境，多数对跨境工作的理解都集中于这种工作安排对家庭的负面影响而忽略了其积极的调整和保护因素。同时，以往的研究也往往缺乏清晰的概念框架。本文回顾了不同角度讨论与就业相关的人口流动和家庭适应的研究，希望有助于提供一个更全面的理解。本文根据与二十个家庭深度访谈的结果，讨论了家庭适应的保护因素与香港居民跨境工作安排的关系。

Statutory minimum wage in Hong Kong: a family impact analysis

ABSTRACT This paper presents a study on family impact analysis of the Statutory Minimum Wage (SMW) in Hong Kong. Qualitative data were collected from seven focus groups and 13 individual interviews conducted with low-wage employees, parents of teenage workers, and parents of employees with disabilities. The 3D7L model of influence was adopted as the conceptual framework. The study found that SMW provided the participating employees with a wage floor and obviously raised their income. It facilitates family budgeting and motivates the participating employees to provide better care to their families. However, the rapid inflation eroded their increased income. They continue to work long hours to earn a living. In interaction with the gender norm, SMW boosted part-time work opportunities for women but the persistent gender norm limited their choices of work location and salary level. The implementation of SMW also escalated the social expectation on productivity that in turn intensified the marginalization of most vulnerable employees. For employees receiving public welfare allowances, the inflexible welfare policy has ‘rub off effect’ on their financial gain from SMW. In sum, SMW is not able to provide the adequate support and opportunities for the employees to actualize their motivations in giving better care to their families. Thus, the policy of SMW needs to be supported by other relevant social policies and services designed to address inflation pressures, minimize family-work conflicts, and mitigate the negative employment effects on the most vulnerable groups of employees.