Hong Kong’s births fell below 30,000 for the first time, reaching their lowest level in records dating to the 1960s, according to 2026 mid-year figures released by the Census and Statistics Department.
Against that backdrop, Legislative Council member Lee Kwong-yu of the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions argued in a social-media post on 13 October that reproductive technology, including egg freezing, could be mistaken for a solution and encourage people to delay having children. He urged people to have children while young.
New People’s Party legislator Judy Chan challenged that framing, saying advice to have children young treats women as constrained by a biological clock and overlooks their autonomy and the pressures shaping their choices.
Her party colleague Adrian Ho said long working hours, high housing costs, inadequate childcare support and financial pressure were the reasons young people delayed or avoided having children. He called for better housing and financial support, alongside subsidies for reproductive treatments including IVF and egg freezing.