Family association's new ad asks Hongkongers to give birth to a basketball team

The Family Planning Association of Hong Kong (FPAHK) has launched a TV commercial encouraging couples in Hong Kong to have four children, even a basketball team. Titled “How Many is Enough?”, the ad aims to encourage young couples intending to have children to plan early in order to pursue their fertility aspirations. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDem8fNxrNcAccording to a FPAHK survey, almost 40% of the women in Hong Kong had not attained their ideal family size. FPAHK chairman Lina Yan pointed out that the fertility patterns and aspirations of Hong Kong couples have changed.Following the continuous decline of married women’s average ideal parity to the lowest of 1.59 in 2007, it picked up to reach 1.67 in 2012. Correspondingly, those desiring to have a child or another child reversed its decades-long downward trend and rose to about 20% in 2012, showing stronger childbearing aspirations. With women’s average actual parity continuing to decline to 1.24 in 2012, the gap between their average actual parity and their average ideal parity (1.67) had widened to 0.43.Elaine Tung, Chairman of FPAHK’s Information, Education and Communication Subcommittee, added that early planning and preparation are essential, especially for those who aspire for a bigger family.The campaign in Cantonese and English has been launched during the prime-time hours on more than 40 free and paid TV channels, including TVB’s Jade, Pearl Channels, ATV’s Home, World Channels, and Cable TV. The Cantonese, English and Putonghua versions will be broadcast concurrently on radio channels.