Lgbtq+ People’s Experiences of Work-family Interface in Hong Kong: Mapping the Queer Economy of Welfare Mix

This research examines the ways in which gender, sexuality, and work-family responsibilities intersect in shaping lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer (LGBTQ+) people’s welfare. Previous social policy research on work-family interface has predominantly focused on heterosexual, cis-gendered households, overlooking the welfare needs and challenges of LGBTQ+ people. This research addresses this gap by mapping LGBTQ+ people’s strategies for managing workfamily dynamics through the framework of ‘queer economy of welfare mix’.

Drawing on narrative interviews with 36 LGBTQ+ adults in Hong Kong, this research reveals the ways in which these adults navigate their work and family roles, against the backdrop of continued cis-heteronormativity in workplaces and the emerging neoliberal politics of diversity and inclusion in the city. The ‘queer economy of welfare mix’ framework conceptualizes how LGBTQ+ individuals mobilize resources across the family, market, and state to organize their welfare through three types of strategies: citizen strategies (exercising rights and entitlements), consumer strategies (securing welfare through market goods and services), and hybrid consumer–citizen strategies. The study findings highlight how LGBTQ+ people respond to institutional and societal exclusion by assembling resources across multiple domains and developing new ways of forming their work and family lives.

Bridging scholarship on gender, sexuality, and family with social policy studies, this research provides original knowledge about how LGBTQ+ people’s work-family interface is shaped by the interplay of family negotiations, market participation, and constrained forms of citizenship. Mapping the diverse strategies used by participants through the ‘queer economy of welfare mix’ framework offers a new analytical lens for understanding how gender, sexuality, family, and changing social roles are negotiated, while highlighting the need for more inclusive work–family policies.