Family In Flux: Benchmarking Family Changes In Hong Kong Society

Abstract

The paper presented in this chapter investigates individuals' familial practices and family formation processes to understand the change of Hong Kong families. It focuses on the type and structure of families in which individuals exist. The paper also focuses on questions related to individuals' sense of familial mutuality. One set of questions relates to informants' interactions with their relatives. Another set relates to their financial responsibility and perceived obligation towards their parents. The paper suggests that individualization in Hong Kong is compartmentalized in that more individualized lifestyles can be contemplated and practised in some areas without undermining family mutuality or the connection between marriage and parenthood, and certainly without establishing diversified familial life-courses. In this regard, the paper argues that individualization in Hong Kong represents a more flexible way of handling and managing the multifarious practices and obligations of family life.