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Work is perceived to be a major barrier to the amount and quality of time available for family use. Both adequate time and quality time are important for the wellbeing of a family. Among the various patterns in the use of family time, there is ample evidence of a positive relationship between participation in family leisure and family functioning. Despite the persistent trend of long working hours in Hong Kong, how work affects the involvement of workers in family leisure is under-examined in the region. Guided by an ecological-systemic perspective, a random sample telephone survey was conducted in November 2010. A total of 1,002 respondents were successfully interviewed. From the results of the survey, it was found that work-family conflict has restricted involvement in family leisure activities and increased the burden on members of the family who are responsible for organising family leisure activities. Furthermore, work-family conflict, together with the burden of organising family leisure activities, has cumulative negative impact on family functioning. A family-friendly work policy, including childcare support, flexible working hours, and employer-sponsored family leisure activities, should be further promoted in Hong Kong., INTRODUCTION Persistently long working hours in Hong Kong The long working hours in Hong Kong and the resultant scarcity of time for family life have been reported in previous studies [...]

Environmental concern is a precursor to behavioural change. This article draws upon data from two surveys conducted in 2000 and 2008 to examine the development of environmental concern in Hong Kong and its major determinants. It finds that Hong Kong people have consistently shown a high level of environmental concern in terms of both their perception of the seriousness of environmental problems and their assessment of how these problems will develop in the future. In line with previous findings, our study confirms that environmental concern is affected by a combination of positional, individual and institutional factors, including gender, education, pro-environmental beliefs, especially concern for environmental damage, and the government's performance in environmental protection. Among these factors, government performance is shown to be of crucial importance. Implications for sustainable development are highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article makes use of data from a 2007 social survey of residents of Macao to examine the structure, profile, and mobility situation of the newly emerged middle class there. It finds that although seven out of ten economically active persons in Macao can be classified as belonging to the middle class, the overall distribution is highly skewed toward the lower end of the class spectrum. Subjective class identification and objective class position are positively related. Macao's middle class is the main beneficiary of the city's compressed socioeconomic development, since the members of this class not only have more personal resources and enjoy better living standards, but also have had a more positive experience of social mobility than the working class. Our findings also support the middle class differentiation hypothesis in that there are different segments to the middle class in Macao and a substantial degree of internal differentiation. Among the four subgroups of the middle class, the higher-rank new middle class is consistently the most privileged. Education is found to be one of the most important determinants of class advancement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the existing ethnic identity, national identity, and liberal consciousness of the Hong Kong people and analyzes their relationships to each other. Based on the results of a telephone survey, the study finds that Hong Kong people have a very strong indigenous identity and high ethnic pride. At the same time, they also strongly identify themselves with the Chinese nation, though they feel somewhat alienated from the existing Chinese nation-state and skeptical of future Chinese national development. As for liberal consciousness, the study discovers that over 60 percent of the Hong Kong people believe that freedom and human rights are more important than the state and nation; more than 40 percent agree that Tibetans, Taiwanese, and Hong Kong people themselves have the right to self-determination; and about 37 percent indicate that if conditions permitted, they would consider leaving Hong Kong. More importantly, the liberal consciousness of Hong Kong's people is found to be closely related to their ethnic and national identities. Such findings basically substantiate the previous liberal explanations of ethnic/national development, i,e., liberalism can be the foundation of ethnic awareness, secessionism, and nationalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]