New wine or old? From colony to SAR - elderly welfare in Hong Kong

Abstract

Hong Kong has experienced remarkable prosperity. This economic prosperity, however, has burgeoned at the expense of social development. Elderly people have not been able to benefit from economic development. The family's structure and functions have changed, and the weakening of traditional Confucian ethics has undermined the family's capacity to care for its older members. Public demand of the state for welfare has escalated. In light of the possible fiscal burden to the state and of sociodemographic changes, a modification of the government's residual welfare orientation is necessary. A new interpretation of individual responsibility could be the novel ingredient in the new wine that can be put in the new bottle of the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong. Efforts are needed to restore the declining traditional Chinese virtues of respecting elderly people and of revitalizing social capital and community care among society as a whole. © 2011 Taylor & Francis.