The Research On The Elderly Care Of One-child Families In Small And Medium-sized Cities

The one-child policy has been implemented in China for almost fifty years.Along with the reform and open-up policy and the ensuing comprehensive economic development,the increasing number of population in China has been efficiently controlled,relieving the burden of fast population growth.The comprehensive implement of the one-child policy,however,has led to millions of one-child families among cities.The only children of one-child families have to shoulder the burden of caring for their older generation,thus destabilizing the social economy and making the social security system needed to be improved.Compared with rural areas,the one-child policy has made a greater difference to the family patterns in urban areas.A great number of parents in one-child families will enter into their old age,which will no doubt create great pressure to their only children.How to strike a balance between the stability of social economy and the caring of old people in one-child families has become a Gordian knot.This paper investigated the parents(either father of mother)of 300 one-child families living in Yanhu District,Yuncheng City.Their family information,including the source of income,day care and spiritual consolation,was acquired to analyze the current situation of elderly care in terms of one-child families in Yanhu District.According to the interview with the department concerned and some only children living in city,the conflict between the relevant elderly care policy and the stress from caring for the elderly was realized.The existing problem of caring for the elderly was analyzed in order to give some suggestions on how to solve this problem from the perspective of the government and individuals.For instance,the social security system should be improved,the establishment of laws and regulations on elderly care,the building of the mutual-help elderly care community,the reemployment of the old,etc.