Latest News:  

English>>Life & Culture

Law for elderly creates a legal conundrum (2)

(Shanghai Daily)

08:25, July 08, 2013

'It's not necessary'

David Fan, who works in advertising, would agree. He said he visits his parents twice a month or sometimes less but would be willing to see them more often if it weren't for the burden of his work hours and responsibility for raising his one-year-old son.

"It is not necessary to have a law like this," he said, "because most Chinese people are filial. Sometimes it is outside factors that hinder people from visiting their parents more frequently."

The new law provides that parents may sue negligent children, but Xu said she doubts many of the elderly have the energy or will to take their offspring to court. A "forced visit," she said, brings no joy to anyone. Moreover, in cases of estrangements because of family disputes, a visit might only reopen old wounds, she added.

Zhang Letian, a sociologist at Fudan University, said the "loneliness of the aged has become a big social problem," but the law won't accomplish its aims. Mandating visits or "greetings" from children to parents is overdoing it, he said.

Population mobility has cut many old family times asunder, he explained. Children move to cities, leaving their parents in rural hometowns. Young people go abroad to study and sometimes don't return. In Minhang's Hongqiao town area, for example, there are more than 10,000 seniors aged 60 or older whose offspring live overseas.

Sometimes seniors expect too much. They want their children to call or visit them every day or two, when the children have jobs and their own children and may only be able to visit once a week.

By June 30, more than 240,000 people had voted in a poll on Sina.com about the law. About 55 percent of respondents said they support it. About a quarter said the law is unworkable, and more than 17 percent said the government has no business trying to legislate family issues.

Sociologists believe there are better solutions.

Many governments, volunteer groups and sometimes the elderly themselves organize social gatherings for senior citizens to provide companionship for those without family around them.

【1】 【2】



We recommend:

Xiapu: China's most beautiful mudflat

Homepage of websites of Chinese universities

Top Gaokao scorers in 2013

Amazing sceneries in China

Top 10 World Heritage in China

Look!Angry birds in the real life!

Cos girls shining at Kafu Comic-Con

Miss Tourism International in Nanjing

Camacho's embarrassing records in China

Email|Print|Comments(Editor:LiXiang、Ye Xin)

Related Reading

Leave your comment0 comments

  1. Name

  

Selections for you


  1. Chinese Navy opens to the public in Vladivostok

  2. Sino-Swiss free trade pact signed in Beijing

  3. Wheel of death" performed in Indonesia

  4. Photo story: Finding everlasting love

  5. Hot yoga practiced in Nanchang

  6. Sand-washing operation at Xiaolangdi

  7. Shaolin martial arts performed in Taiyuan

  8. Lotus flowers bloom in Yinchuan

  9. Jiaxing-Shaoxing Sea Bridge in E China

  10. Sales of ice cubes up in Beijing

Most Popular

Opinions

  1. Chinese-Swiss FTA, a model for cooperation with EU
  2. Witnesses' account of Xinjiang terror attacks
  3. Culture facilities should be better managed: minister
  4. Alipay, should banks worry?
  5. Chinese visitor spending brings changes to NZ
  6. Transparency urged in China's college enrollment
  7. Nokia deal will not affect business in China
  8. Obama trying to get foothold in Africa
  9. CIC needs to recruit global talent: analysts
  10. China to strengthen ties with Uganda

What’s happening in China

First panda born in Taiwan is female | Photos

  1. Lovebirds separate when the going gets rough
  2. Stranded passengers attack airport workers
  3. Qinghai-Tibet Railway expands its reach
  4. Survivors recall violent Xinjiang attack
  5. Taxi booking apps that allow tips banned