This book investigates how rapid socio-political-economic change in China since 1949 has affected intergenerational relationships and practices in rural areas, specifically the care provided to elderly parents by their adult children. It focuses on the lived experiences of rural villagers and their perceptions of the impact of these socio-political changes on intergenerational relationships, care of the elderly, family cohesion, and the traditional value of filial piety. It notably considers the importance of filial piety as a dominant family value, the conflict between strong family bonds and growing desires for individuality and autonomy, the prevalence of migrant work among adult children and the diversification of intergenerational practices, alongside the need for national policy and services development for residential and community-based aged care in rural China.

Declining fertility rates and increased life expectancies over the last few decades have conspired to make China one of the more rapidly aging societies in the world. Aging Families in Chinese Society focuses on the accelerated social and demographic changes in China and examines their implications for family care and support for older adults. Contributors to this landmark volume portray various challenges facing aging families in China as a result of reduced family size, changing gender expectations, rapid economic development and urbanization, rural-to-urban migration, and an emerging but still underdeveloped long-term care system. Divided into four thematic areas – Disability and Family Support; Family Relationships and Mental Health; Filial Piety and Gender Norms; and Long-term Care Preferences – chapters in this volume confront these burgeoning issues and offer salient policy and practice considerations not just for today’s aging population, but future generations to come. Combining quantitative data from social surveys in China, comparative surveys in Taiwan and Thailand, and qualitative data from in-depth interviews, Aging Families in Chinese Societies will be of significant interest to students and researchers in aging and gerontology, China and East Asian Studies and population studies.

With an increasing number of elders moving into nursing homes, the shift from family to nursing home care calls for an exploration of caregiving decision-making in urban China. This study examines how a rapidly growing aging population, the one-child policy, and economic reform in urban China pose unprecedented challenges to the country’s ingrained tradition of family caregiving. It presents interviews of matched elders and their children from a government-sponsored nursing home in Shanghai and analyzes the decision-making process of institutionalization. This book offers fresh insight into the evolving culture and arrangements of caregiving in contemporary Chinese society, illuminating the diverse needs for long-term care of Chinese elders–the world’s largest aging population–in the coming decades.

The first part of the book is entitled 'Family, Transition and Ageing' and addresses rapid social and economic changes in China through a kaleidoscope of differential perspectives that focus on how family continues to be an important reference point for the past, present and future institution in the care of older people. The second part of the book focuses on the tangible social forces associated with managing old age: 'Welfare, Consumption and Ageing'. This section is important in locating the structures and agents of power that are relevant to maintaining trust and social relations between older people, the Chinese State and its dualism of state welfare and consumption of welfare.

This dissertation, "Family Capital and the Self-rated Health of Older Adults in Rural China: an Intergenerational Perspective" by Nan, Lu, 吕楠, was obtained from The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong) and is being sold pursuant to Creative Commons: Attribution 3.0 Hong Kong License. The content of this dissertation has not been altered in any way. We have altered the formatting in order to facilitate the ease of printing and reading of the dissertation. All rights not granted by the above license are retained by the author. Abstract: Background: Self-rated health is an important predictor of adverse health outcomes (e.g. mortality) and health service use. While intergenerational family capital has been considered as one of the most important social determinants of self-rated health, the role of grandparent-grandchild dyads in self-rated health has not been fully investigated. Further, little is known about the patterns of change in trajectories of the self-rated health of older rural Chinese adults, who constitute the largest ageing population in the world. Objectives: This study investigated the association between grandparent-grandchild family capital and the self-rated health of older adults in rural China, as well as the mediation role of the grandparent-parent relationship in the association between grandparent-grandchild family capital and self-rated health. The present study also examined the development trajectories of the self-rated health of older rural Chinese adults from the point of view of intergenerational relationship and socio-economic status. Methods: Data for this study are derived from the Well-Being of the Elderly in Anhui Province survey. A random sample of 1,715 adults aged 60 and older were interviewed in the rural Chaohu region in 2001. A total of 1391 and 1067 respondents participated in the 2003 wave and 2006 wave respectively. New respondents were recruited for the 2009 wave and 1224 respondents were interviewed in 2009. Based on the 2009 wave of the Chaohu survey, structural equation modeling was used to examine the direct effect of grandparent-grandchild family capital on the self-rated health of older adults and the mediation role of the grandparent-parent relationship. Based on the 2001, 2003 and 2006 waves of the Chaohu survey, general growth mixture modeling was used to examine the multiple underlying trajectory patterns of self-rated health as well as the antecedents of the latent class memberships. Results: The results showed that grandparent-grandchild family capital had a direct effect on the self-rated health of older adults in rural China. The results also showed that the grandparent-parent relationship played a partial mediation role in the association between grandparent-grandchild family capital and self-rated health. Further, a two-class model was chosen to interpret the underlying trajectory classes. The two trajectories were labeled "good but declining SRH class" and "poor and declining SRH class." Discussion: The findings enriched our theoretical understanding of intergenerational family capital and its effects in a cultural context that emphasizes collectivism and intergenerational exchanges. The mediator role of the grandparent-parent relationship was also highlighted in the findings, which confirmed "grandchild-as-linkage" theory. Further, there are underlying multiple trajectory patterns of the self-rated health of rural older adults. Intergenerational relationship was an important antecedent of the latent classes of self-rated health trajectories in rural China. DOI: 10.5353/th_b5089984 Subjects: Rural elderly - Health and hygiene - China Rural elderly - China - Family relationships

Growing Old in a New China: Transitions in Elder Care is an accessible exploration of changing care arrangements in China. Combining anthropological theory, ethnographic vignettes, and cultural and social history, it sheds light on the growing movement from home-based to institutional elder care in urban China. The book examines how tensions between old and new ideas, desires, and social structures are reshaping the experience of caring and being cared for. Weaving together discussions of family ethics, care work, bioethics, aging, and quality of life, this book puts older adults at the center of the story. It explores changing relationships between elders and themselves, their family members, caregivers, society, and the state, and the attempts made within and across these relational webs to find balance and harmony. The book invites readers to ponder the deep implications of how and why we care and the ways end-of-life care arrangements complicate both living and dying for many elders.

Known for a tradition of Confucian filial piety, East Asian societies have some of the oldest and most rapidly aging populations on earth. Today these societies are experiencing unprecedented social challenges to the filial tradition of adult children caring for aging parents at home. Marshalling mixed methods data, this volume explores the complexities of aging and caregiving in contemporary East Asia. Questioning romantic visions of a senior’s paradise, chapters examine emerging cultural meanings of and social responses to population aging, including caregiving both for and by the elderly. Themes include traditional ideals versus contemporary realities, the role of the state, patterns of familial and non-familial care, social stratification, and intersections of caregiving and death. Drawing on ethnographic, demographic, policy, archival, and media data, the authors trace both common patterns and diverging trends across China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, and Korea.

China, which is fast on its way to becoming the most powerful economic force in the world, has four unique characteristics that distinguish it from other countries in Asia: (1) The proportion of aging population is growing faster than that of Japan (the country previously recognized as having the fastest rate) and much faster than nations in western Europe. (2) An early arrival of an aging population before modernization has fully taken place, with social policy implications. It is certain that China will face a severely aged population before it has sufficient time and resources to establish an adequate social security and service system for older people. (3) There will be fluctuations in the total dependency ratio. The Chinese government estimates are that the country will reach a higher dependent burden earlier in the twenty-first century than was previously forecast. (4) The government’s fertility policy (single child per family) and its implementation has a strong influence on the aging process. Fewer children are being born, but with more elderly people a conflict arises between the objectives to limit population increase and yet maintain a balanced age structure (Peng and Guo 2001). The intersection of these fourfold factors means that the increased aging population is giving rise to serious concerns among Chinese social policy makers. There is a chronic lack of good resource materials that attempt to make sense of social policy in its relationship to examining the problems and possibilities of human aging grounded in an analysis of economic of social policy in China and impact on rural and urban spaces. Such analysis of China will be covered by conceptual, theoretical, and empirical approaches. The book will also discuss substantive topics of housing, community care, family care, pensions, and mental health. The book brings together a truly world class array of researchers to provide discussions of critical implications of aging social policy and the economic impact in China.

Leading family sociologist David Morgan revisits his highly influential 'family practices' approach in this new book. Exploring its impact, and how it has been critiqued, Morgan shows the continued relevance of the approach with reference to time and space, the body, emotions, ethics and work/life balance.

With longer life expectancy, most countries are now experiencing rapid ageing among their populations. Ethnic Chinese populations are no exception to these demographic transformations. During the twentieth century, there has been a wide dispersion of Chinese people throughout the world, as well as dramatic socio-political changes within China. These unique factors have strained traditional filial norms and necessitated a re-examination of intergenerational relationships and the roles of elderly Chinese people. This book investigates the varied adaptations of social support systems and social integration among ageing Chinese populations within a diverse set of countries in the Pacific Rim region. The book is a collection of scholarly papers addressing such topics as community care, family support, one-child families and social isolation. Each paper illustrates the importance of social support networks and social integration to the quality of life for elderly Chinese persons living in dissimilar circumstances.