Feature: When "4-2-1" family structure comes

Since China started implementing the family-planning policy in the 1970s, the first generation of people who are the only child in their family is starting to come of age in China. Now more than 30 years after the policy was implemented, their parents are aging. As a result, such young Chinese couples have to shoulder the responsibility of supporting four seniors and raising one child, facing enormous pressure...

Young Chinese couples face pressure from "4-2-1" family structure



The "4-2-1" family structure means that after a married couple who are both the only child of their respective family has a child, the family will consist of four seniors (each of their parents), one child and the couple themselves. [Full story]

Example

Mr. Wang, 30, now works in Huizhou of Guangdong Province after moving there with his wife from Hubei Province several years ago. He soon got used to the life in Huizhou and has made significant advancement in his career. However, as the only child in his family, he is very concerned about his parents in his hometown.


Post-80s couples put off raising kids due to rising education costs

Pressure from raising a child

School battles

A baby boom coinciding with the lucky Chinese year of the Pig in 2007 and the 2008 Olympic year are putting pressure on recent kindergarten intakes in China's big cities. Demand for places is so high that parents have to choose to go to expensive private kindergartens, and even that, they have to put down a deposit a year before actual enrollment. [Full Story]

Rising education costs

According to a recent survey, the cost of raising one child from birth to college graduation might be as high as 1 million yuan. [Full Story]

Being "children's slaves"

"Children's slaves" means parents spare no effort to raise their children all their life even losing their self-worth. Now being "children's slaves" has become a kind of panic disorder that is spreading among young parents in China. [Full Story]


One in four Chinese 'aged above 65 by 2050'

Pressure from taking care aging parents

Young adults still need help of mom and dad

Nearly four in 10 college-educated young adults in big cities are failing to make ends meet, a recent survey has reported.Thirty-eight percent of young adults working in big cities say they have to ask their parents for money and 86.6 percent say they are suffering from living pressures. [Full Story]

Urbanization affecting care of aging parents

Nearly 63 percent said the main reason for "living apart" was they couldn't afford to pay their parents' living expenses in big cities. Other reasons included parents being unwilling to leave their hometown, being unable to adjust to life in a strange city, non-transferability of healthcare insurance, and younger people being unwilling to move back to the small towns where they were born. [Full Story]


Aging seniors facing life without proper care

Young couples need help

More complete social security system urged in China

China has now initially formed a framework for a social security system, but weak links still remain. A more complete and considerate social safety net is urged to ensure that all the Chinese people can access to the basic social security. [Full Story]

Day care center for aged people set an example

Aged people read newspaper, play games, take physical exercises, watch opera performance and chat with each other at the center in daytime and go home to enjoy the happiness of family life in the evening every day. [Full Story]

By Wang Qianyuanxue, People's Daily Online