Latest survey conducted by Hong Kong Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) has revealed concerning findings regarding the life after retirement of women aged 50 and above (50+). On average, these women spend nearly a quarter of their day performing caregiver duties for family members, burdened by their caregiving responsibilities, health issues, financial concerns, and future uncertainties. As a result, their mental health is also being significantly impacted.

The questionnaire, conducted from December last year to January this year, collected data of 930 retired women aged 50 to 70. Half of the respondents reported the need to take care of family members, such as partners, parents and children. On average, they spent approximately 5 hours and 42 minutes per day in caregiving, accounting for nearly a quarter of their day. 31.6% of the respondents felt the caregiving time was excessively long, and 31.4% even expressed experiencing significant stress. Many participants acknowledged that assuming responsibility for caring for their loved ones, both young and old, often resulted in various physical and mental health issues.

Apart from being caregivers, the “50+” women also requires special attention on their mental health. In this survey, the YWCA included the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) to assess the mental well-being of respondents. The findings showed that 53.2% scored 13 or higher, indicating a red flag on potential emotional distress.

Furthermore, respondents expressed a discrepancy between their retirement life and their expectations. This included a decline in their standard of living compared to the past (40.1%), difficulties in adjusting to having their husbands at home more often (39.6%), and 25.5% of women admitting to having no one to rely on when problems arise.

These concerns may stem from a lack of planning and preparation before retirement. The survey found that only 51.2% of respondents had knowledge about their own health conditions before retirement, and only 38.3% had retirement savings. It is not surprising that the most common worries after retirement were "declining physicality" (94.3%) and "insufficient financial reserves" (74.0%). Consequently, respondents earnestly hope for more support from society.

Ms. Woo Yuen Ling, Service Director (Employment Service and YWCA Movement), emphasized that women in traditional Chinese society have been automatically assigned to shoulder responsibility of caring for their families. Such gender stereotypes force them into the role of caregivers, leaving them with little time to rest and inadvertently neglecting their own physical and mental well-being. On the other hand, financial concerns also add pressure to ladies, as the aging population increases expected expenses their family members. Thus, women are tend to be more reluctant to spend much, therefore affect their quality of life.

Woo mentioned that there are caregiver support services available in the community, however, most people do not have corresponding information in advance, and only seek help when their partners or loved ones are actually in need, therefore authorities should be more active in providing such resources. There are also social welfare services, such as Y Evergreen, offer retirement saving and financial planning courses for ”50+” generation to utilize their retirement funds and relieving financial concerns.

As an organization always endeavor to strive for women’s rights, YWCA will host its 15th "ChariTea" publicity event on 8 March, International Women's Day. Free red date tea bags will be distributed at designated locations across the city, in chain stores of corporate partners including Watsons, Tea Only, Choi Fung, Joint Publishing, Chung Hwa Book Company, The Commercial Press, and YWCA service units. For more details, please visit https://gift.ywca.org.hk.