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Women Make Up 40 Percent of HK Workforce: Official
Hong Kong has made much progress in developing the potential of women, with more women getting good education and more joining the workforce, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government's Administrative Secretary Anson Chan said Thursday.
Addressing a dinner in celebration of the International Women's Day, Chan said it was just 23 years ago that free, universal and compulsory nine-year education was offered to all children, against a cultural backdrop of putting emphasis on education for boys.
But now, 53 percent of Hong Kong's undergraduates are women, Chan said, adding that 40 percent of the workforce, some 1.7 million people, are women. There are also many women successful in their trade or professions.
Using the civil service as an example, Chan said that women are now filling positions that used to be regarded as jobs for boys. Hong Kong now has firewomen and female pilots, she said.
In recent years, the government has also been recruiting more women into the Administrative Officer grade, which forms the backbone of the SAR government, Chan said. By January this year, the figure of female administrative officers grew to 47 percent, compared with a mere 17 percent in 1983.
Hong Kong women are now enjoying a longer life, with a 82.4- year life expectancy, and the literacy among women in Hong Kong is 88 percent, according to Chan.
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