This book is the first study with feminist analysis on lone mothers’ economic dependency in Hong Kong. The implications of this study are considerable; it challenges both conventional thinking about families and the political and academic debates about social policy. This book sets out to examine the relationship between social security benefits and lone mothers’ labour supply in Hong Kong. Two particular aspects of the labour supply behaviour of lone mothers are explored: firstly, the possible effect of social security on lone mothers’ employment: and secondly, the knowledge and perception of social security benefits in the decision making processes of lone mothers in relation to taking up paid work. Evidence from this study suggests that there are three structural barriers which hinder lone mothers from taking up paid employment outside their family; inadequate support for child care, the low level of Earnings Disregard Policy which discourages lone mothers living on benefit from being self-reliant and thirdly, the low wages that lone mothers earn in the labour market.

Social policy in modern industrialised societies is increasingly challenged by new social risks. These include insecure employment resulting from ever more volatile labour markets, new family and gender relationships resulting from the growing participation of women in the labour market, and the many problems resulting from very much longer human life expectancy. Whereas once social policy had to be in step with a standardised, relatively stable and predictable life course, it now has to cope with non-standardised individual preferences, life courses and families, and the consequent increased risks and uncertainties. This book examines these new life courses and their impact on social policy across a range of East Asian societies. It shows how governments and social welfare institutions have been slow to respond to the new challenges. In response, we propose a life-course sensitised policy as an approach to manage these risks. Overall, the book provides many new insights which will assist advance social policy in East Asia.

A descriptively annotated, multidisciplinary, cross-referenced and extensively indexed guide to 2,395 dissertations that are concerned either in whole or in part with Hong Kong and with Hong Kong Chinese students and emigres throughout the world.

This book is the first study with feminist analysis on lone mothers’ economic dependency in Hong Kong. The implications of this study are considerable; it challenges both conventional thinking about families and the political and academic debates about social policy. This book sets out to examine the relationship between social security benefits and lone mothers’ labour supply in Hong Kong. Two particular aspects of the labour supply behaviour of lone mothers are explored: firstly, the possible effect of social security on lone mothers’ employment: and secondly, the knowledge and perception of social security benefits in the decision making processes of lone mothers in relation to taking up paid work. Evidence from this study suggests that there are three structural barriers which hinder lone mothers from taking up paid employment outside their family; inadequate support for child care, the low level of Earnings Disregard Policy which discourages lone mothers living on benefit from being self-reliant and thirdly, the low wages that lone mothers earn in the labour market.

The annual is a venue of publication for sociological studies of Chinese societies and the Chinese all over the world. The main focus is on social transformations in Hong Kong, Taiwan, the mainland, Singapore and Chinese overseas.

What are the major issues confronting social policy-makers today? What theoretical perspectives shape our thinking about the causes of social problems and how we should respond? What can we do to influence decision makers about which policy choice to make? In this completely revised and updated edition of "Canadian Social Policy," a new generation of social policy analysts discusses these important questions. Readers who are interested in discovering the current policy debates, and who want to understand the policy-making process at various levels of government as well as how they can influence the process and assess whether policies are working, will find this book invaluable.

This book provides a detailed comparative account of the development of citizenship and civil society in Hong Kong from its time as a British colony to its current status as a special autonomous region of China.