Chen Xiaochen, Zhuoga Cuo, Deng Ziqian
Department of Psychology, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China.
Front Psychol. 2021 Mar 3;12:608111. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.608111. eCollection 2021.
After four decades of China's family planning policy, the shrinking family size and increasing life expectancy pose special challenges for the one-child generation in terms of providing care for aging parents. The current study explored young adults' responses to such pressure by examining their concerns about elder care, attitudes toward nursing homes, and living arrangement after marriage in a sample of 473 Chinese working young adults from six cities in China (46.9% males, = 25.1 years, 47.8% only children). Results showed that although most of the young adults reported to have thought about the issue of parents' elder care, the majority did not worry a lot about it. Only children expressed similar levels of worrying as those with siblings did. However, educational level, rather than sibling status, was systematically related to concerns about parents' elder care and attitudes toward nursing homes. People with higher education tended to worry less about elder care, and were less likely to consider placing parents in nursing homes as a violation of filial piety. Analyses of the married sub-sample ( = 140) revealed that only children were more likely to co-reside with parents after marriage than those with siblings. And the main reason for co-residence was that the younger generation needed their parents' help for childcare, rather than to better take care of their parents. Implications for parents' elder care among Chinese only children were discussed.
在中国实行计划生育政策四十年后，家庭规模缩小和预期寿命增加给独生子女一代在照顾年迈父母方面带来了特殊挑战。本研究通过调查473名来自中国六个城市的在职青年（男性占46.9%，平均年龄 = 25.1岁，独生子女占47.8%）对老年护理的担忧、对养老院的态度以及婚后居住安排，探讨了年轻人对这种压力的应对方式。结果表明，尽管大多数年轻人表示已经考虑过父母的老年护理问题，但大多数人对此并不十分担忧。独生子女表达的担忧程度与有兄弟姐妹的人相似。然而，与兄弟姐妹状况相比，教育水平与对父母老年护理的担忧以及对养老院的态度存在系统性关联。受过高等教育的人往往对老年护理的担忧较少，并且不太可能认为将父母送进养老院是不孝之举。对已婚子样本（ = 140）的分析显示，独生子女婚后比有兄弟姐妹的人更有可能与父母同住。同住的主要原因是年轻一代需要父母帮忙照顾孩子，而不是为了更好地照顾父母。文中讨论了对中国独生子女父母老年护理的启示。
