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Note: This article represents the view of the author and not the University of Hong Kong.

In recent months there were several severe family violence incidents. All of them involved new migrant families. This has again arisen the public attention towards new migrant families and new migrant women. According to the definition in the 2001 Population Census, new immigrants are defined as those being born in mainland China, with "Chinese" as their nationality and living in Hong Kong for less than 7 years. The figure in 2001 was 266,000. The figure rose to 345,000 in 2003. This is because the quota of the one-way permit has increased from 75 people per day in the 80's, to 105 people in 1994, and to 150 people in 1995. In 2001, there were 79,000 new migrant women aged between 25 and 44. How are their lives? The author would like to use the figures from the 2001 Population Census and some relevant surveys (to be consistent with the lead-in) on new immigrants to analyse their situation, and to compare them with the overall figures in Hong Kong (indicated in brackets).

In the living environment aspect, 43% (32%) of new immigrants live in public housing estates. 42% (30%) live on Kowloon Peninsula, mostly in old districts like Kwun Tong, Sham Shui Po and Yau Tsim Mong. The average number of members in each household is 3.8 (3.1). Also, 14% (9%)of household members live with the elderly, 11% (4%) of household members live with several nuclear families. All these reveal that the living environment and public facilities of the new immigrants are far from satisfactory.

In the education aspect, 30% (15%) of new migrant women aged between 25 and 44 have merely received education up to primary level or below. Only 6% (21%) possess tertiary education level. In recent years, there was a remarkable increase in the number of new immigrants from provinces beyond Guangdong Province. The proportion of them to the total number of new immigrants to Hong Kong has increased from 18% in 1999 to 32% in 2003. Due to their weaknesses in education levels and languages, they face greater difficulties in daily lives, work and children's education.

In the work aspect, 78% (57%) of new migrant women aged 15 or above are married, 71% (51%) are housewives, and only 44% (71%) of new migrant women aged between 25 and 44 join the labour market. In fact, new immigrants generally have high expectation on joining the labour market. Among those new immigrants aged 11 above who came to Hong Kong in 2003, 54% hoped the government could help them to find jobs, 31% needed the government to provide them with job skills' training.

In the family aspect, there are 93,000 married couples whose wives are new immigrants. This accounts for 6% of the total number of married couples. There are 8,500 new migrant women aged 40 below who live with their spouses. In other words, 17% (5%) are 15 years or more younger than their spouses. They may face greater difficulties in adapting to the marriage than couples with smaller age differences. In 2001, there were 146,000 new migrant family households. This included 560,000 family members, which accounted for 8% of the total population in Hong Kong. Among them, 11,000 new migrant children aged 18 below came from single-parent families with fathers only. In recent years, followed by the dramatic increase of new immigrants, one can expect the above figures will have apparent increase as well. What difficulties is this large group of new immigrants and their family members facing in fact? Among those new immigrants aged 11 above who came to Hong Kong in 2003, 50%, 38% and 32% of them expressed that they had difficulties in adapting to their jobs, living environment and financial situation in their families respectively. If we keep on ignoring their situation and turning a blind eye to their demands, this will sow the seeds of instability in the society.