My family and other animals

Family matters

Dr Paul Wong, a clinical psychologist and co-author of a 2019 study titled "Companion Animal Ownership and Human Well-Being in a Metropolis — The Case of Hong Kong", says choosing pet ownership over parenthood is a prominent trend across developed countries, the reasons being rising costs of living and delayed marriages.

According to the Census and Statistics Department of Hong Kong, the median age of first marriages increased by a year between 2018 and 2022. The figures now stand at 32.2 years for men and 30.7 for women. This has a direct effect on birth rates, considering not every couple becomes pregnant immediately after getting married, and women begin to experience a gradual decline in fertility once they turn 32.

"Delayed marriages have an impact on the success rate of being able to bear children. So while couples wait to conceive, they will likely have a pet or two. And I suspect some of them might, eventually, give up on the idea of having children at all," Wong says. He adds that pet-owning couples also include those who remain childless by choice.