Seventy percent citizens believe family background determines success

Around 70 percent of people in favor that family background affects one’s life and chances, says a survey.

Youth New World, a charity organization announced the result of a survey conducted of over 1,135 Hongkongers aged above 18 gauging public views about social mobility in Hong Kong on Sunday.

Among the respondents, 69.3 percent said family backgrounds and social status decided one's opportunity for upward mobility.

Only 44 percent agreed with the opinion that “Working hard can lead to chances to change the life in current Hong Kong”, while 17.6 percent showed “strongly disagree”.

Birthplace served as an element that affected the results of the survey. 56.1 percent of respondents who were born in mainland China agreed that hard-working matters in life; while the figure was 38.5 percent of respondents born in Hong Kong.

Besides, 50.7 percent of respondents believed the economic development of society failed to benefit all the citizens, with 32.8 percent saying the living standard nowadays is worse than five years ago. And 32.6 percent showed a pessimistic attitude toward the living standard in the next five years.

However, the survey showed there were still 63.7 percent and 59.7 percent of respondents respectively believed that upward mobility chances could be reliable with continuing education or obtaining a university degree or above.

As for the results, Youth New World called on more opportunities spared to the youth for advanced professional development with funding and policies.
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