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This move aims to support employees in addressing their childbirth needs, while driving the overall fertility rate in the city.
Global science and technology company Merck Group has announced the launch of the "Family Matters Initiative" in collaboration with Primary Care Education Foundation (PCEF) and virtual insurer Bowtie in Hong Kong. Under the initiative, the Group will provide HK$280,000 fertility subsidies for each employee.
This support covers fertility testing, egg freezing, treatments for both female and male infertility — including ovulation induction (OI), intrauterine insemination (IUI), in vitro fertilisation (IVF), intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), hormonal treatments, and sperm retrieval surgeries.
This move aims to alleviate the financial burden on employees and encourage higher birth rates to improve the overall fertility rate in the city.
"We are pleased to offer substantial support to our employees in addressing their childbirth needs and resolving urgent issues, creating more favourable incentives for them to have children,” said Tony Cheng, Managing Director, Merck Hong Kong & Macau.
“This initiative not only enhances the quality of life for our employees, but also positively impacts the overall fertility rate of Hong Kong. We will continue to actively host various activities of the 'Family Matters Initiative', contributing to the sustainable development of Hong Kong society."
According to the "Annual Report 2023" published by the United Nations Population Fund, Hong Kong is one of the cities with lowest fertility rate. This resonates with the data from the Census and Statistics Department, which showed that the fertility rate among women aged 20-24 has decreased by 77% over the past 30 years, while the fertility rate among women aged 40-44 has increased by 91%.
To further understand the factors and challenges that Hong Kong residents encounter when deciding to have children, three organisations conducted an online survey in the first half of 2024.
Having surveyed approximately 200 employees in Hong Kong, the results revealed that less than 30% of the respondents said that their enterprises had fertility encouraging measures. About 84% of the respondents hoped that enterprises would provide more flexible working arrangements to assist childcare, while about 51% of the respondents said that they would consider having children more actively if their enterprises provided more incentives for childbearing.
As such, the aim of this initiative is to create a family-friendly working environment for employees, thus supporting them in building families for Hong Kong's future development through various measures such as educational and fertility subsidies.
In addition, they will also work together to promote knowledge about fertility, egg freezing, IVF, and etc. through videos and articles.
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