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Study on the Supportive System for Young New Arrivals - Executive Summary

In view of the various adjustment issues encountered by newly arrived youngsters, the Commission on Youth commissioned the present study on the supportive system for young new arrivals aged 15 to 24.

Research Objectives

The objectives of the study were:

  • to explore the nature of adjustment problems that young new arrivals generally encountered;
  • to investigate the tendency of young new arrivals in seeking help from others;
  • to identify the major sources of support for young new arrivals;
  • to study the expectation of young new arrivals on various supportive systems; and
  • to draw up recommendations on how to enhance the supportive network for young new arrivals and facilitate their adjustment process.

Research Methodology

  • Phase I: Focus group discussions
    Focus group discussions were conducted with young new arrivals to discuss the various adjustment issues and supportive systems. The discussions also served to provide insight on the questionnaire design.
  • Phase 2: Quantitative survey
    The survey was conducted by the MDR Technology Ltd., followed by a secondary analysis by the researcher. The survey covered young people aged 15 to 24 who arrived in Hong Kong during the period from 1 January 1996 to 30 June 1998. The records of new arrivals maintained by the International Social Service Hong Kong Branch (ISS-HK) served as the sampling frame. A total of 1,512 young new arrivals was successfully interviewed. A response rate of 52% was reported.

Profile for respondents

  • 47.9% of the respondents were male and 52.1% were female.
  • 69.2% were aged 15-19 and 30.8% 20-24.
  • 95.2% were single and 4.8% married.
  • 56.5% were attending school, awaiting schooling, or seeking admission to school; 41.3% were working or awaiting employment; 1.5% were housewives and 0.7% had no intention to work or study.

Schooling experience

  • Among all respondents, 998 reported to have intention to continue study in Hong Kong upon their arrival. 91.7% have successfully located school placement; 8.1% did not succeed and then joined the labour force; 0.2% were still awaiting placement at the time of interview.
  • Among those who have located school placement, 90% spent about 1 to 2 months to locate the first school placement. 86% could locate a placement upon contacting 1 to 3 schools.
  • 70% turned to the Education Department for assistance in locating placement; 8% to social service organizations; and about 2% to other government organizations.
  • Among those who failed to locate school placement, the three most common difficulties were not being admitted by schools (58%); no information about schools (43%) and no knowledge about the application procedures (39%).
  • Among those who were studying or confirmed with placement, 66% were enrolled in grades 1 to 2 years lower as compared to their educational attainment in the Mainland.
  • The major learning difficulties were learning English (52.3%) and writing standardized Chinese characters (14.0%).

Employment experience

  • The unemployment rates of young new arrivals aged 15-19 and 20-24 were 22.5% and 11.9% respectively.
  • The underemployment rates of young new arrivals aged 15-19 and 20-24 were 3.0% and 2.4% respectively.
  • 51.1% of young new arrivals were working in industries of wholesale, retail and import/export trades, restaurants and hotels; 17.5% manufacturing; 16.6% construction; 14.0% others and 0.8% refused to answer.
  • 41.6% of young new arrivals were working in occupations of service workers and shop sale workers; 20.8% craft and related workers; 14.3% clerks; 12.1% elementary occupations; and 11.2% others.
  • The median monthly employment earnings of young new arrivals aged 15-19 and 20-24 were $6,300 and $6,700 respectively.
  • Among the unemployed, the problems encountered in the process of job-hunting were the inability to speak English (64%), the lack of necessary skills (51%) and the non-recognition of their qualification (43%).

Language

  • 81.4% of the young new arrivals reported no difficulties in using Cantonese for communication in daily life; 16.7% found it slightly difficult; 1.9% quite difficult or very difficult.
  • 63.3% could read the complex form of Chinese characters well; 29.7% could read some and 6.9 could read none.
  • 31.8% could write well the complex form of Chinese characters; 49.3% could write some and 19.0% could not write any.

Social Life

  • 47.4% considered it easy to make new friends in Hong Kong; 26.0% average; and 26.6% quite or very difficult.
  • The major difficulties encountered by young new arrivals in making new friends were the lack of initiative (44%); the limited social circle (43.6%); being discriminated (17.0%); and inability to speak fluent Cantonese (15.6%).
  • The most common channels for young new arrivals to make new friends were schools (63.3%) and work place (35.5%). 11.8% relied on the introduction from relatives; 7.0% social service organizations.

Family condition

  • 45.8% were living in public rental housing or public sale flats; 50.2% in private housing.
  • The mean of the estimated size of accommodation was 274 square feet; and the estimated mean personal space for 65 square feet.
  • 31.8% were satisfied with their present living condition while 46.5% were not.
  • The reported median monthly household income was $11,300.
  • 68.4% considered their family's financial condition fair while 31.1% considered it poor. Nearly none (0.3%) considered it good.

Social support system

  • On the average, 49.1% of young new arrivals would handle stressful situations by themselves. 27.4% would turn to friends for support; 21.8% to mother; 17.2% to father; 10.9% to siblings. 7.3% would turn to teachers and 5.0% to social workers for assistance.
  • Among the student sample, 13% would turn to teachers and 8% to social workers for help-seeking.
  • 22% of the newly arrived students would consult teachers for knowledge about sex and 18% for handling conflicts with schoolmates.
  • The mean levels of satisfaction of young new arrivals for the informal support systems were: mother (5.76), siblings (5.54), father (5.52); friends (5.46) and classmates (5.40), along a scale of 1 (very dissatisfied) to 7 (very satisfied).

Recommendations

  • Schooling
    • More promotion on the services of the Education Department for young new arrivals aged over 15;
    • Diversified means of publicity to promote the assistance for school placement;
    • Deployment of resources for strengthening English teaching.
  • Employment
    • Increased opportunities for continuing education;
    • Tailor-made vocational or pre-employment training;
    • Extending the coverage of the Employees Retraining Scheme.
  • Language
    • Strengthening promotion strategies for language courses;
    • Arranging convenient times for language courses.
  • Social life
    • Calling for concern on the social needs of young new arrivals, especially those aged 20-24;
    • Innovative programming to meet their needs.
  • Social support
    • Enhancing problem-solving abilities and informal social support;
    • Strengthening the supportive role of teachers and social workers.