I would like to know what Hong Kong think about it.

Elder J. São Paulo, Brazil

I live in Shenzhen, and lots of Shenzhen parents above a certain economic level have babies in Hong Kong, frequently for their second child. At border crossings between HK and Shenzhen at certain times of day, you can see the busloads of children heading from the Mainland to HK for school.
Interesting is that the price for such a service is really high, for Shenzheners at least in the 100,000 RMB range. For this the mother gets a medical visa for travelling back and forth to HK, a small number of OB visits in HK, and then a maternity package at a HK hospital. What they are really paying for is the ability to have more than one child, and the opportunities for that child to access HK schools and other services reserved for HK residents. Our family, too, is expecting our total OB bills in Hong Kong to be in the 100,000 RMB range, but as Americans living in the Mainland, we are seeking Western-quality care (monthly OB visits, Western prescriptions, private hospital room, etc). My Chinese neighbors for that same amount get fewer OB visits and are often admitted to multi-bed wards, but their child gets the HK ID.

Today's South China Morning Post has an article about the apparent soaring birthrate in Hong Kong, soaring because of the numbers of Mainland women that are choosing to give birth there. In 2003, there were almost 50,000 total births in Hong Kong. In 2007, this number was almost 71,000. Mainlanders are a large contributer to this as Hong Konger have one of the lowest birthrates in the world. In 1998, only 6,100 births in HK were to Mainlanders. Last year that number was 27,574.
In February of 2007, HK implemented a booking system requiring Mainlanders (which even I, as an American in Shenzhen are required to follow) to help stem the tide of non-Hong Kongers taking up space in the maternity hospitals. An expectant mother needs to have her OB book her a space in the hospital the minute she finds out she is pregnant. The booking requires an immediate HK$40,000 deposit. Expectant mothers must also attend to their OB visits in Hong Kong, though some private hospitals will charge a penalty for those that take care of ante-natal visits on the Mainland. Many of these measures were meant to keep space open in the public hospitals for HK women. The cost difference for Mainlanders between public and private hospitals in HK is only 20 or 30%. How well did this work? Not very, as the first six months of this year more than 40% of births in HK were to Mainlanders.

Hong Kong is not exactly a welfare state. I think the only welfare benefit is that everyone over 70 years of age gets HK500 (guess) a month. The locals call it fruit money

Paul - HK is not exactly a welfare state, but is pretty close. My wife gave birth in a public hospital and it cost is HK$250 for the birth and three nights stay. And all this with excellent service from the nurses and midwives.Thanks once again to all the degenerate gamblers and the HK Jockey club.

As for mainlanders, as jen points out the difference betweeen public and private in terms of cost is minimal for mainland mothers. As such, it tends to be private hospitals that are feeling the pressure. beds need to be booked up well in advance. the public system appears to be less affected. There were a couple of mainland mothers in the public hospital at the same time as my wife, but the majority were local.

Mike - granted, the free public medical system in Hong Kong is an excellent benefit for ID card holders but there are plans afoot to "semi-privatise" (whatever that means) this in the future. The point I was trying to get across is that in Hong Kong there is no government provided unemployment or retirement benefits unlike a lot of western nations. In fact a lot of Hong Kong people emigate so that they can enjoy government welfare benefits. So if you're a mainlaner buying a Hong Kong ID card to take advantage of the welfare benefits you're going to be disappointed.