title: "Non-engaged" young people in Hong Kong: key statistics and observations.
abstract: This paper reports the key statistics and observations regarding "non-engaged" adolescents in Hong Kong, where "non-engaged" adolescents refer to unemployed young people and adolescents who do not pursue any further studies in the 15-24 year age bracket. Several phenomena could be highlighted from the available statistics on non-engaged young people in Hong Kong. First, there was a rise in adolescent unemployment figures, particularly in the 1990s. Second, youth unemployment rates for adolescents aged 15-24 years were higher than the overall unemployment rates for the general population. Third, while youth unemployment rates in Hong Kong were lower than those reported in some English-speaking countries, the figures were higher than those reported in Mainland China. Fourth, some demographic correlates of youth non-engagement were found: a) unemployment rates were relatively higher in younger adolescents than in older adolescents; b) the sex ratios (number of males per 1,000 females) in non-engaged young people were higher than those of young people in the general population; c) the educational attainment of non-engaged young people was lower than that of the same age group in the general population; d) new arrival status was not related to youth non-engagement. Fifth, some family correlates were also observed: a) compared with adolescents who were not non-engaged youths, there was higher proportion of non-engaged youths living with one parent; b) the educational attainment of parents of non-engaged youths and the family income of their families were lower than those of households without non-engaged youths.
authors.affiliation: Department of Social Work, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong. DANIELSHEK@CUHK.EDU.HK
authors.forename: Daniel T L
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Shek
authors.forename: Britta M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006723:Hong Kong; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012307:Risk Factors; D014478:Unemployment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*