Still, the Wuhan report claims that 60 to 70 percent of children under age 2-and-a-half in China are cared for by their grandparents, as well as 40 percent of children over age 3. Elder people raise children to share the burden, but many adults regard it as the elders' duty.
Historically, multi-generational living has been seen as the cultural ideal in China, with several generations living under one roof. Today, grandparents share almost half of the childcare duties with mothers of two- and three-year-olds.
Being a grandparent is an important social role for Chinese older adults (Xu & Chi, 2015). In traditional Chinese culture, grandparents often care for their grandchildren, and grandchildren in turn are expected to respect and care for their grandparents when they grow up.
“The Chinese believe that the best way to protect their children is by preparing them for the future, letting them see what they're capable of, and arming them with skills, work habits and inner confidence that no one can ever take away.”
In China, mothers and grandparents continue to play the dominant role in providing care and emotional support to children.
In modern China, both girls and boys are usually treated equally. However, many Chinese parents are strict, since the choices of the children reflect on the parents. This comes back to the family being seen as a unit rather than individual people.
For the most part, Chinese elderly are expected to remain in their family homes and be cared for by their children or grandchildren. There's a stigma in China against placing aging parents or older family members in nursing homes, said Luk, who's written two studies on China's aging population.
The dolphin parent is ... authoritative in nature. Like the body of the dolphin, they are firm yet flexible. Dolphin parents have rules and expectations but also value creativity and independence. They are collaborative and use guiding and role modelling to raise their kids.
Agriculture can be a key to understand the Chinese son preference history. For thousands of years in China, most of the Chinese preferred sons rather than daughters because majority of males have more ability to earn more than girls, especially in agrarian economies.
The one-child policy was a program in China that limited most Chinese families to one child each. It was implemented nationwide by the Chinese government in 1980, and it ended in 2016. The policy was enacted to address the growth rate of the country's population, which the government viewed as being too rapid.
A paternal grandfather is called zufu (祖父) and a paternal grandmother is called zumu (祖母) in Mandarin, or a-gong (阿公) and a-ma (阿嬤) respectively in Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese). Maternal grandparents are commonly referred to as wai zufu (外祖父) and wai zumu (外祖母) in Mandarin.
Over 40% of children being cared for by a grandparent are there because of at least one parent's substance abuse. 28% of the kids who are being raised by their grandparents were victims of abuse, abandonment, or neglect from their parents.
China: Popular Chinese names for grandmothers include NaiNai, Ma Ma, Po Po, and Wai Po, but the exact name chosen depends upon the region, the language and whether a grandmother is on the maternal or paternal side.
The Current Scenario
According to a survey, there are more than 22,000 Australia families, where the grandparents are raising the grandchildren, mostly due to some family crisis or busy parents.
Other disadvantages for this family structure are often wrapped up in financial problems, mental and physical health concerns, social isolation issues, and emotional and behavioral problems of the children both in the home and at school that the grandparents are unable to, or not equipped to deal with.
Also known as “kinship care,” a growing number of grandparents are now taking on the parenting role for their grandchildren, thus foregoing the traditional grandparent/grandchild relationship.
Anxious that rapid population growth would strain the country's welfare systems and state-planned economy, the Chinese state began limiting how many children families could have in the late 1970s. The limit in most cases was just one child. Then in 2016, the state allowed two children.
With China's Hidden Children, Johnson reveals the complex web of love, secrecy, and pain woven in the coerced decision to give one's child up for adoption and the profound negative impact China's birth-planning campaigns have on Chinese families.
The one-child policy produced consequences beyond the goal of reducing population growth. Most notably, the country's overall sex ratio became skewed toward males—roughly between 3 and 4 percent more males than females.
Permissive parents, described by Barbara Coloroso as the “Jellyfish Parents”, are the other extreme. They offer their children lots of support, but don't have high expectations. Jellyfish Parents don't want their children to face any difficulties and don't provide structure in their children's lives.
According to Yahoo!, panda parenting is all about “gently guiding your little one, as opposed to shoving them down the parenting path”. In other words, a panda parent is one who gives their kids the freedom to do things their own way.
Dragon Mom
Dragon motherhood is, as Rapp says, to be "fierce and loyal and loving as hell." It's also about living in the moment with your kids and loving them for who they are right now, not for the Ivy league education you dream they'll get or the grandchildren they could one day give you.
How Does the Healthcare System Work in China? China does have free public healthcare which is under the country's social insurance plan. The healthcare system provides basic coverage for the majority of the native population and, in most cases, expats as well. However, it will depend on the region you reside in.
Based on the Confucian ethic of filial piety, it is the obligation of adult children to support their older parents.