From The Washington Post:
Tian Deren is only 58, but poor eyesight means he must be helped across the street. He also has diabetes and is hard of hearing, so earlier this year a son-in-law brought him to a privately run home for the elderly.
…But like many of China’s graying citizens, Tian understands that the elderly are now treated differently than they once were, that the country’s modernization and one-child-only policy have shifted assumptions about old age.
Only children often bear the burden alone of taking care of their parents, while the cradle-to-grave welfare associated with state-owned factories is becoming a thing of the past. Two or three decades ago, a more traditional way of life emphasized the Confucian ideal of respecting one’s elders. Today, making good money is the slogan of choice.
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Read CDT’s earlier post: “China: Welfare for Old Will be Challenge.”
