China orders children to visit their elderly parents

[alp227]

Source: BBC

China has passed a law requiring adult children to visit their elderly parents regularly or risk being sued.

The law does not specify how frequently such visits should occur, but warns that neglect could risk court action.

Reports suggest a growing number of elderly Chinese have been abandoned or neglected by their offspring.

Chinese state media reported earlier this month that a woman in her nineties had been forced by her son to live in a pigsty for two years.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-20860264

[Historic NY]

1. Damn Communists"...

[Texin]

2. Coming soon to a republican state near you.

Or what would happen if Social Security is finally destroyed to "fix" the so-called debt crisis.

[dixiegrrrrl]

5. This country would never order children to visit aged relatives

but probably would pass a law making adults pay for any medical bills.

It is always about the money.

[LiberalFighter]

9. Those laws are already on the books in many states.

What keeps states from enforcing those laws are Medicare requirements.

[quakerboy]

12. Where is that on the books?

This makes me curious, Ive never heard of a law forcing an adult to pay for another adults (anything, fill in the blank) just due to being biologically related.

[dixiegrrrrl]

15. I have read of ATTEMPTS to collect but those were rules illegal.

Every once in a while, a story has been printed of someone trying to get adult children to pay for their deceased realtive's bill, but no law has been cited, and usually raising holy hell with the creditor has stopped it.

[LiberalFighter]

16. Resources

Adult Children Could Be on Hook for Parents' Nursing Home Bills
[link:http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/your-obligation-pay-parents-nursing-home-bill.html|

Your Obligation to Pay a Parent's Nursing Home Bill]
Filial responsibility laws make children responsible for parents' long-term care costs.

[Xithras]

20. The majority of states have some sort of filial responsibility laws on the books.

The actual requirements vary state to state. In California, where I live, the law is found in Section 4400 of the state Family Code and states "Except as otherwise provided by law, an adult child shall, to the extent of his or her ability, support a parent who is in need and unable to maintain himself or herself by work."

The laws isn't intended for use by the state, but by creditors. If one of your parents ends up in a nursing home and accrues a large bill, and the nursing home can prove that you have the means to pay it, they can sue you to recoup the debt. This route is rarely pursued because it usually devolves into a fight over what "the extent of his or her ability" actually means. And if the parents estate contains ANY assets, the child can typically just argue that the parent HAS (or had) the resources to pay the bill, and wasn't in "need". If that estate is awarded to other creditors in probate, it's generally not regarded as the fault of the child.

You probably haven't heard of these laws because the cases can be very hard to win, and are therefore rarely filed.

[quakerboy]

23. Interesting

I wonder how those apply. Biological parents? Legal guardians? What if you lived with an aunt most of your life? Which one or ones do you get to be responsible for as an adult

Seems like something you could challenge on basic principle. Some people don't have much of anything to do with their parents.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

10. It may not be that far removed from the Grandparent Visitation laws we have now.

[zonkers]

28. Saddest, truest thing ever posted.

[MADem]

3. Wow. What about that ancestor worship thing?

The Chinese are always held up as a society that venerates the wisdom of the aged. Guess that ain't controlling these days.

I wonder how it's shaking for the older set in places like Japan and Korea?

[Katashi_itto]

4. In Japan, Respect for the Aged Day is Sept 16th

it's celebrated annually to honor elderly citizens. A national holiday since 1966, this was previously held on September 15. Beginning in 2003, Respect for the Aged Day is held on the third Monday of September due to the Happy Monday System.

This national holiday traces its origins to 1947, when Nomadani-mura (later Yachiyo-cho, currently Taka-cho), Hyōgo Prefecture proclaimed September 15 Old Folks' Day (Toshiyori no Hi). Its popularity spread nationwide, and in 1966 it took its present name and status. Annually, Japanese media take the opportunity to feature the elderly, reporting on the population and highlighting the oldest people in the country.

Here is some over-clothing worn for the Respect for the Aged day. Its a big stlll deal there.

http://global.rakuten.com/en/store/kyoetsu-orosiya/item/kannreki-1/

[dixiegrrrrl]

6. Welcome to DU

[Katashi_itto]

17. Thanks for the kind welcome!

[MADem]

7. Do granny and gramps get taken in when old, or are nursing homes becoming more common? nt

[Katashi_itto]

18. It's dependent on economics. Families strive to take care of their elderly.

Nursing homes are the last resort.

[Xithras]

21. Modern industrialization is destroying the traditional Chinese family.

As recently as 50 years ago, the average Chinese citizen would live his or her life within a few miles of the spot they were born at (in many families, they'd die under the same roof they were born under). Your parents and grandparents were never more than a few minutes away, and the graves of generations of previous ancestors were just around the corner.

In China today, young people are fleeing to the cities en masse because that's where the jobs are. They live in dormitories, or small apartments often shared with fellow workers. Their parents, more often than not, are left in their ancestral homes, and may be visited once or twice a year.

The Foxconn worker who made your Android or iPhone probably hasn't seen his or her parents in years, because parents aren't allowed in the worker dormitories, and so those parents live hundreds of miles away. While China does have high speed rail and airlines, those are far too expensive for your average factory worker. Travel from the industrial centers to rural parts of China takes days using traditional transportation, and Chinese workers are rarely given enough time off to make that kind of trek.

Modern industrialization is killing the traditional Chinese family the same way it killed the traditional western family...by severing the connections between generations.

[MADem]

24. I don't own an Android or iPhone, but I feel sorry for those wage slaves.

[dixiegrrrrl]

29. In the rural south, you see the same multi generation pattern of living.

Families live close together, and are taken care of by relatives.
The church is a vital part of community down here, and most have their own graveyards, dating back to early 1800's.
In fact, several churches here pre-date the founding of the county or the state.
So there is a memory of many ancestors lying out in those cemeteries.

The South has been mostly an agrarian culture, since the beginning, and people here are very tied to the land, their town and community.
I read a LOT of obituaries which report that the deceased has lived in the same place all their lives, and have met many many people who have never left the county.
The land has a strong pull here.
I find it comforting.

[iiibbb]

30. The chinese I know...

... don't miss living in the agrarian life.

[antigone382]

27. Laws mandating a certain degree of responsibility for one's parents aren't uncommon in Asia.

I don't specifically know of any that mandate visits, but countries such as China, Singapore, and others legally hold children responsible for the financial well being of their parents, and parents can sue if they are neglected. You are correct in a sense that it is an outgrowth of "Asian" or "Confucian" values--or better put, it is an attempt by the governments of these countries to assert certain values associated with Asian identity, and combat values associated with the West.

The reasons for laws are incredibly complex, and they have a lot to do with power relations between East and West, self-conscious construction of a traditionally "Asian" identity, and a whole host of historical and geopolitical factors such as colonialism, globalization and modernization, debates over human rights vs. community needs, and a whole lot of other stuff that is kind of extremely complicated to get into (and which I'm not really qualified to explain in great detail), but very interesting.

[mainer]

8. It's also a problem that there are so many single kids

So one child is responsible for two parents and four grandparents. And if that child marries, then the young couple's collectively responsible for four parents and eight grandparents. With no siblings or cousins to share the burden.

[marshall]

14. That's what the state is for

If they enforce birth control, they should provide end of life care.

[slackmaster]

11. Some of my friends and I considered offering a "Rent-A-Son" service

For people who don't want to visit their parents, but feel guilty about it.

[DavidDvorkin]

13. This will not result in many warm and happy visits.

[Skidmore]

19. We here in America the Exceptional are absolutely stellar when it comes to our elderly.

We warehouse them in the finest of nursing homes or retirement homes. Not all families visit regularly or check in unless there is a problem.

[MADem]

25. I preferred to keep 'em at home, myself. nt

[Evergreen Emerald]

22. for some it is an eighth amendment issue

[lunasun]

26. check out Germany!!

Germany accused of 'deporting' its elderly: Rising numbers moved to Asia and Eastern Europe because of sky-high care costs

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2253922/Germany-accused-deporting-elderly-Rising-numbers-moved-Asia-Eastern-Europe-sky-high-care-costs.html#ixzz2GV6aGBt1
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