A socioecological perspective on the future quality of life of Hong Kong’s young people: The role of competencies, livelihood improvement and support, upward mobility and environment, and five-year outlook

The rapid loss of young people from Hong Kong’s (HK’s) labor force between 2020 and 2022 was not reflected in the steady unemployment rate, suggesting the departure of young people. It was likely due to the pessimism about their future quality of life (QoL) in HK, following discontent about, for example, the Anti-Extradition Bill and stringent COVID-19 restrictions. To help prevent further loss of the precious population, we aimed to identify the HK-specific socioecological aspects that could predict young people’s future QoL based on a socioecological perspective. We found that, compared to 2018 (n = 794), young people in 2021 (n = 636) were significantly more pessimistic, and this was predicted by factors in the socioecological framework at lower levels, such as financial competence and self-efficacy to improve one’s QoL, and at higher levels, such as positive evaluations of QoL, opportunities for young people’s upward mobility, the natural environment in the Great Bay Area compared to HK, and the five-year economic outlook and QoL in HK. Implications for HK young people’s perceptions and what they value were discussed. Copyright © 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.