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Older parents enjoy better filial piety and care from daughters than sons in China

Author

Listed:
  • Yi Zeng

    (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany)

  • Linda George
  • Melanie Sereny
  • Danan Gu
  • James W. Vaupel

    (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany)

Abstract

This study based on analyzing the unique datasets of Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey clearly demonstrate that, compared to having son(s), having daughter(s) is beneficial at older ages, with regards to enjoying greater filial piety from and better relationships with children and satisfaction with care provided by children. The daughter-advantages of enjoying greater filial piety from and better relationships with children are more profound among oldest-old aged 80+ compared to young-old aged 65-79, and surprisingly more profound in rural areas compared to urban areas, while son-preference is much more prevalent among rural residents. We also discuss why the rigorous fertility policy until October 2015 and less-developed pension system in rural areas substantially contribute to the sustentation of the traditional son-preference which resulted in high sex ratio at birth (SRB) when fertility is low. We recommend China to take integrative policy actions of informing the public that having daughter(s) is beneficial for old age care, developing rural pension system and implementing the most recently announced universal two-child policy as soon as possible. We believe that these policy actions would help China to change the traditional son-preference, bringing down the high SRB, and enable more future elderly parents to enjoy their life including better care provided by daughters.

Suggested Citation

  • Yi Zeng & Linda George & Melanie Sereny & Danan Gu & James W. Vaupel, 2015. "Older parents enjoy better filial piety and care from daughters than sons in China," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2015-012, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:dem:wpaper:wp-2015-012
    DOI: 10.4054/MPIDR-WP-2015-012
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Yi Zeng & Melanie D. Sereny Brasher & Danan Gu & James W. Vaupel, 2015. "Older parents benefit more in health outcome from daughters’ than sons’ care in China," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2015-004, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    2. Sha Cao & Dingde Xu & Yi Liu & Shaoquan Liu, 2019. "The Impact of Rural Labor Migration on Elderly Health from the Perspective of Gender Structure: A Case Study in Western China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(20), pages 1-18, October.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    China; daughters; parents; sons;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

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