The role of social networks in the migration decision and planning of Hong Kong people

Following the mass social protests in 2019 and the enactment of a national security law in 2020 in Hong Kong, a significant proportion of Hong Kong people have been considering migrating to another country, and the UK is the most popular country of emigration (Kan, Richards, and Walsh 2021). 

In this talk, Professor Man-Yee Kan will introduce findings from a survey conducted between February 2021 and June 2022 in Hong Kong, which collected data of migration intention and planning of Hong Kong residents. Specifically, this paper investigates whether individuals’ social networks in Hong Kong and overseas are associated with their migration decisions and planning, and how these associations might vary based on socio-economic factors such as occupation, educational qualifications, and home ownership status. Results show that individuals with higher levels of socio-economic resources are more likely to consider migration and tend to view social networks as an important factor in their migration decisions. Additionally, having friends and family in the destination country increases the migration intention of individuals with lower levels of socio-economic resources.