Discrimination Against Mothers 'routine': Study

"); jQuery("#212 h3").html("

Related News Programmes

"); jQuery(document).ready(function() { jwplayer.key='EKOtdBrvhiKxeOU807UIF56TaHWapYjKnFiG7ipl3gw='; var playerInstance = jwplayer("jquery_jwplayer_1"); playerInstance.setup({ file: "https://newsstatic.rthk.hk/audios/mfile_1455534_1_20190501185545.mp3", skin: { url: location.href.split('/', 4).join('/') + '/jwplayer/skin/rthk/five.css', name: 'five' }, hlshtml: true, width: "100%", height: 30, wmode: 'transparent', primary: navigator.userAgent.indexOf("Trident")>-1 ? "flash" : "html5", events: { onPlay: function(event) { dcsMultiTrack('DCS.dcsuri', 'https://news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/component/k2/1455534-20190501.mp3', 'WT.ti', ' Audio at newsfeed', 'WT.cg_n', '#rthknews', 'WT.cg_s', 'Multimedia','WT.es','https://news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/component/k2/1455534-20190501.htm', 'DCS.dcsqry', '' ); } } }); }); });

2019-05-01 HKT 18:55

Share this story

facebook

  • SOCO says many low-income mothers have been told to their face they won't be hired because they have young kids. Photo courtesy of SOCO.

    SOCO says many low-income mothers have been told to their face they won't be hired because they have young kids. Photo courtesy of SOCO.

Sze Lai-shan speaks to RTHK's Candice Wong

A survey released on Wednesday suggests it's not uncommon for employers to discriminate against women from poor families because they have young children.

The Society for Community Organisation (SOCO) interviewed around 200 women from low-income families. It said 37 respondents said prospective employers have openly told them that they wouldn't be hired either because they need to take care of young children, or because they cannot work on Sundays as a result.

SOCO spokeswoman Sze Lai-shan said it's against the law to discriminate against people based on their family status, and urged the government to punish violators.

She also accused both the administration and the Equal Opportunities Commission of failing to enforce the law effectively, saying as a result, many companies don’t even think discrimination on such grounds is even an issue.

Sze urged the government to implement family-friendly policies to allow parents to both be able to work and take care of their children and take steps to increase child-care services.

RECENT NEWS

Adyen And JCB Launch Card-on-File Tokenisation To Boost Payment Security

Adyen and JCB Co., Ltd. have launched JCB’s card-on-file (COF) tokenisation service, designed to improve the securit... Read more

Hong Kongs Cashless Future Is Closer Than You Think

A recent Worldpay report indicated that the digital wallets Hong Kong has could dominate its payment landscape by 2030.... Read more

HKMA Green Fintech Competition Open For Submissions

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced the launch of the 2025 Green Fintech Competition on 9 May 2025. It is... Read more

HSBC Launches Refreshed Hong Kong App With Smarter, Personalised Features

HSBC Hong Kong announced the launch of it refreshed HSBC HK App on 7 May 2025, set to roll out by phases beginning mid-... Read more

Chubb Life Hong Kong Launches Health Up Insurance For The Tech-Savvy

Chubb Life Hong Kong introduced the Health Up Insurance Plan (Health Up) on 7 May 2025. The Chubb Health Up Insurance d... Read more

Ant International Eyes Hong Kong IPO, In Talks With Regulators

Ant Group, a subsidiary of China’s Alibaba Group, is reportedly planning to list its overseas branch, Ant Internation... Read more