Page 22 - 伊利沙伯中學舊生會湯國華中學

Harvard GlobalWE Essay Contest 2025-2026 - Winner

Why Women in Hong Kong Still Can’t Have It All
Why Women in Hong Kong Still Can’t Have It All

5A Yu Yike

In the past, like in the Qing dynasty, women’s lives were limited to the home, weaving, and
caring for children. They couldn’t go to school or have big dreams. Now, in Hong Kong, women
are everywhere; in offices, in leadership roles, building careers. But even today, they carry a
heavy, invisible weight: the pressure to balance work and family, almost always alone. Why
does this still happen in a city that says it’s so modern?
A researcher named Claudia Goldin found something important. The pay gap between
men and women doesn’t start when they get the job. It starts when they have children. In
Hong Kong, after having their first child, many women leave their jobs or work less. But men’s
careers don’t slow down. This isn’t because women don’t want to work hard. It’s because the
best jobs demand all your time, and society still thinks taking care of the family is a woman’s
main job.

The real problem is not that women can’t balance; it’s that they’re expected to. Long ago,
there were “marriage bars” that stopped married women from working. Those laws are gone,
but the thinking isn’t. Jobs that let you work flexibly often pay less. Part-time work rarely leads
to promotion. And too many people still think a man’s career should come first. A report last
year said 68% of men in Hong Kong believe their job is more important than their partner’s.
Only 24% of women think the same. That’s not a choice; it’s how the system is built.

Every generation of women has fought for more freedom. First, they could only pick work
or family. Later, they could work first, then have kids. Then, they could try to return to work
after their children grow up. Now, my generation is told we can do both. But the world of work
hasn’t really changed to help us do that. We have more options, but not the support to really
choose freely.

This affects women at every age. Teenage girls already worry about how work will fit with
family one day, but boys don’t think about that. Young women might avoid jobs in banking
or law because they know the hours are too long. Women with kids turn down promotions
because they have no one to share the work at home. The mental work never stops: planning
for exam revision for kids, finding someone to watch the kids, and feeling bad for missing
family moments. It’s not balanced. It’s like walking on a rope with no net below.
So, what can we do? Goldin says we shouldn’t tell women to try harder. We should
change work itself. Some jobs, like pharmacy, used to have big gender gaps. But when they
made schedules more flexible and teamwork the norm, things got better for women. Hong
Kong can do that too. We need reliable and affordable childcare. We need paternity leave that
fathers actually take. We need companies to care about what you do, not how long you sit at a
desk.

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