While the growth in the population is heartening, the city’s low fertility rate and ageing population call for creative approaches. With migration set to be the main mode of population growth, the city must focus on diversity and inclusiveness.

While the internet provides young people with a valuable platform, it also exposes them to cyberbullying, privacy concerns, social media pressure and more. Keeping youth safe online requires active involvement from parents, teachers, tech companies and policymakers.

The three-tier system meant to address the rise in student suicides and provide mental health support will have limited effect if it ignores underlying causes. Hong Kong must foster an inclusive, empathetic and forgiving attitude to retain residents, attract new talent and ease the burden of our struggling youth.

The goal should be to increase affordable housing for everyone, invest in a quality education system and create a family-friendly society.

Recent student deaths and yet another alarming report about the state of youth mental health should push the community to work harder at providing non-judgmental support for our young.

Koper Prison in Slovenia sits in the centre of the community, and its environment reflects a humanistic concern for inmates. The Slovenian prison system’s emphasis on rehabilitation, education and community integration ought to inspire jurisdictions like Hong Kong.

Youth unemployment and a lack of upward mobility are some of the factors causing hopelessness. It is time to rethink the challenges around mental health and release community resources to tackle the challenges keeping people from mental wellness.

Assumptions about net migration gains offsetting natural population decline are far from certain and ignore several pressing issues. There is no silver bullet for raising the fertility rate, but a caring, and happy living environment for all can help.

Super-connector Hong Kong should also build its bridges to the mainland and the world, between the government and people, and among groups in society – making sure to leave no one behind.

People still struggle to grasp that celebrities, healthcare workers and others who appear outwardly successful can suffer from mental health issues. We need a systematic change in our understanding of mental health and to destigmatise mental illness.

The city must review and adjust health and social services, especially for ethnic minorities, and increase mental health education in schools and counselling in communities. Everyone can help shape a caring and empathetic society.

In low-income countries, where early marriage and a lack of contraception result in unwanted pregnancies, boosting awareness of and access to contraception is crucial. In high-income countries, the high cost of having children deters women. Here, family-friendly policies, in the workplace and beyond, can be helpful.

A rule change in one Chinese province to allow unmarried women to have children gives them greater choice in principle, but not in practice. It does nothing to address the more fundamental economic and social factors preventing people from having children.

The government’s approach of slowly bringing friendly, hand-picked youth into the policymaking process must be overhauled if it hopes for meaningful change. Hong Kong needs an inclusive approach that reflects young people’s actual needs and gives them a reason to stay instead of seeking a better life elsewhere.

Policies to encourage couples to have children will have a limited impact, especially now that small family sizes are the norm. Instead, Beijing should take steps to improve education and skills training, reform the healthcare system and create the conditions for healthy living.

Hong Kong needs its young people to secure its future, and our new generations need not just job opportunities but more support and a sense of hope. The city’s first youth blueprint puts emphasis on creating opportunities, but neglecting young people’s mental health in the discussion will be costly.

The world is increasingly crowded, with its most populous countries facing challenges to meet demand for quality education and jobs among young people. Wealthy countries must help lower-income nations ensure reliable access to food, healthcare and jobs as equitable development is in their interest, too.

Patients in need should be informed of all the options they have and get access to professional advice and appropriate services before ending their lives. Doing so without thorough consideration and adequate support is not really a choice but a compromise.

Drilling students for exams that fail to measure their true abilities or prepare them for the real world of work will not alleviate Hong Kong’s talent shortage. What’s more, standardised tests put students from lower income backgrounds and ethnic minority groups at a disadvantage.

The pandemic has weighed heavily on people’s mental health, especially vulnerable groups including the young, elderly and unemployed. We can all take time to reach out, as every action can connect someone to life and to the help they need.

With another school year starting and no sign of a let-up in Covid-19 restrictions, young people’s mental health and social development continue to suffer. The rise in suicides and those needing help show the damage that has already been done, and further disruptions would only make things worse.

Most schools are too focused on producing students who get good grades and go to university to prepare young people for other paths in life. Mental health training should be included in the compulsory curriculum to cultivate positive life attitudes, regardless of academic success.

With new estimates putting the cost of raising a child in Hong Kong at HK$6 million, it’s no wonder many couples cannot afford to start a family. But does raising a child have to be so expensive? In addition to existing measures like free schooling, better deployment of community resources could help.

Hong Kong has a duty to its young people. We need education reform to better recognise non-academic talent, more resources for schools and teachers, better community support and help for families, plus improved job and training opportunities.

The 25 years after Hong Kong’s return to Chinese sovereignty have coincided with a rapid increase in wealth inequality in the city. Addressing the minimum wage and worker protections, improving child care, and boosting workforce skills could help narrow the wealth gap.

A recently published examines how socioeconomic factors and vaccination roll-out have affected children’s mental health during the pandemic. It reveals an urgent need to remove barriers to food security, mental health services, and housing and employment benefits.

Instead of trying to reverse demographic trends, mainland authorities should focus on how to prosper in an era of flat population growth. An ageing population affects economic sustainability, technological progress and public spending, so policies must be adjusted.

Depression among elderly Hongkongers seems to have reached crisis level amid the fifth wave of coronavirus. Despite the social distancing restrictions in place, people could be more sensitive to older adults’ emotional needs and reach out to them more.

Chronic diseases, disabilities and dementia are on the rise among Hong Kong’s ageing population while the pandemic has further exposed the lack of resources in elderly care. The city has the financial means and central government support to do better, but it has focused on treatment over prevention.

Changing mindsets among young couples and the high economic costs of raising a family are driving China’s population growth slowdown. The right technological advances, policies and commitment to the environment and people’s well-being can slow the decline.