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Figure 4. First marriages, divorces, and remarriages

Source: Census and Statistics Department.

Figure 3. Divorce rates of selected economies per 1,000 people, 2013 4.2 Demographics of Public Rental

Housing

Existing studies have shown that divorce rates are higher among
lower-income households than in high-income households (Bramlett &
Mosher, 2002; Raley & Bumpass, 2003). This is also evident in Hong Kong.
Table 8 indicates that the number of divorced men and women has ris-
en rapidly over time. In 1981 there were 12,580 and 11,160 divorced men and
women. By 1991 these had risen to 21,700 and 28,920, and by 2015 to 90,800
and 179,600.

Combining the observations from Tables 8 and 9. It is apparent
that divorced men and women are heavily concentrated in low-income
PRH. In 2011, about 28% of married persons were living in PRH, while it was
44% of the divorced (See Table 8), and the situation even worsened in
2015. In the meantime, in 2011, divorced individuals are much more likely
to be in the lowest income quartile in the society if they are PRH resident,
compared with their counterparts who reside in other types of housing (See
Table 9).

Additionally, as Table 8 shows, the number of divorced women
living in PRH has increased substantially compared to the number of
divorced men living in PRH. It is likely that divorced women remain as PRH
tenants while divorced men move out. Some of these divorced men who
remarry subsequently would apply for PRH again, if their incomes still
qualified. Hong Kong’s public housing estates are transforming into areas
of growing low-income divorced households. This observation would be
investigated more thoroughly in Chapter 5.

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