An aging population is a worldwide phenomenon mainly caused by declining birth rates and longer life expectancy. A considerable shift in the composition of Hong Kong’s population will occur over the next three decades; the number of older people will surge to 2.6 million by 2040, with one in three people aged 65 or older.

 

An increasing need for care, coupled with rapid increases in the number of dual-earner families in which one or both partners work long hours for pay may lead to a redistribution or the substitution of men’s care work for women’s. Statistics offered by Census and Statistics Department can support this assumption: analysed by sex, 637,500 (97.4%) were females and 16,900 (2.6%) were males. By contrast, according to a report in 2003, the statistics and information of male home-makers cannot be identified owing to the very small number (Thematic Household Survey Report No. 14, p. 110). Meanwhile, an increasing number of men had quit a job due to the need of taking care of members with disabilities.

 

1. To examine factors that predispose sons to take on a caregiving role and how sons manage their caregiving role in their late adult life.

 

2. To investigate the lived experiences of caregiving sons in Hong Kong, mainly from three aspects: how they define caregiving; pains and gains in caring their parents; how caregiving role impacts other aspects of their individual life.

 

3. To explore the practical implications of conceptualizing sonhood for social issues