So much for Tiger Moms?
Mollie Hemingway ·
Jan 31, 2011 at 5:48pm
From the New York Times:
Under a proposal submitted last Monday by the Civil Affairs Ministry to China’s State Council, adult children would be required by law to regularly visit their elderly parents. If they do not, parents can sue them.
On a day when a Florida judge has ruled Obamacare unconstitutional, it's worth considering what it's like when the government can mandate anything it so desires.
But how's that one (male) child policy working out for you, eh, China?
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Comments :
Jul '10
Re: So much for Tiger Moms?
Well, Here in America, that law would mean that the adult children would be required to walk down the hallway.
Jul '10
Re: So much for Tiger Moms?
Can't they just Skype instead?
Jul '10
Re: So much for Tiger Moms?
I guess that would keep them from having to put down their wii and making the trek down the hallway.
Nov '10
Re: So much for Tiger Moms?
30 yrs after this *policy* was instituted, the answer to this question is... not well.
(1), There is a significant decline in the young and financially productive (the crux of support for parents and grandparents in their retirement years) and (2), there has been a disproportionately low percentage of female children born since 1979 in China, creating even further challenges for regenerative birthrates in the years ahead.
Jan '11
Re: So much for Tiger Moms?
Elizabeth Dunn
30 yrs after this *policy* was instituted, the answer to this question is... not well.
(1), There is a significant decline in the young and financially productive (the crux of support for parents and grandparents in their retirement years) and (2), there has been a disproportionately low percentage of female children born since 1979 in China, creating even further challenges for regenerative birthrates in the years ahead.
· Jan 31 at 6:55pm
I don't want to think about what living in a 5 time zone sausage-fest is like.
Re: So much for Tiger Moms?
Elizabeth,
I read last year about a study indicating that happiness when one's health declined was improved by having 3 or more daughters (or daughter-in-laws with whom one was close). It was a bit odd to read in a scientific journal, but it made sense. Women tend to help their parents.
The study dealt with U.S. subjects, so I'm unsure how well it translates to other cultures. But I fear what will happen in China if they're already having these troubles. When few people have any daughters, much less more than one child period, this can't bode well for one's declining years.
May '10
Re: So much for Tiger Moms?
If we could be China for a day, would that be the day Tom Friedman has to visit his parents?
Jul '10
Re: So much for Tiger Moms?
fullfrontal
Elizabeth Dunn
30 yrs after this *policy* was instituted, the answer to this question is... not well.
(1), There is a significant decline in the young and financially productive (the crux of support for parents and grandparents in their retirement years) and (2), there has been a disproportionately low percentage of female children born since 1979 in China, creating even further challenges for regenerative birthrates in the years ahead.
· Jan 31 at 6:55pm
I don't want to think about what living in a 5 time zone sausage-fest is like. · Jan 31 at 7:22pm
Big market opportunity for gay bar entrepreneurs.
May '10
Re: So much for Tiger Moms?
Not only do I maintain a healthy level of skepticism regarding China's 'sensational' economic transformation in terms of accuracy of reported numbers (see Olympic gymnastic team for Chinese gov't integrity as it relates to competitive world landscape), but I also love snarky threads on the subject.
Nov '10
Re: So much for Tiger Moms?
Mollie Hemingway: Elizabeth,
I read last year about a study indicating that happiness when one's health declined was improved by having 3 or more daughters (or daughter-in-laws with whom one was close). It was a bit odd to read in a scientific journal, but it made sense. Women tend to help their parents.
The study dealt with U.S. subjects, so I'm unsure how well it translates to other cultures. But I fear what will happen in China if they're already having these troubles. When few people have any daughters, much less more than one child period, this can't bode well for one's declining years. · Jan 31 at 7:23pm
Mollie,
To quote my Southern grandmothers (both of whom provided me with an endless supply of good advice and extremely relevant truisms):
"A daughter is a daughter for life. A son is a son until he takes a wife."
May '10
Re: So much for Tiger Moms?
Mollie Hemingway: From the New York Times:
In the long run, it will be beneficial. Due to the shortage of women, only the highest quality men will marry and have children (on average) producing a eugenic effect. Low-quality men will have no children and their DNA will disappear.
Jan '11
Re: So much for Tiger Moms?
outstripp
Mollie Hemingway: From the New York Times:
In the long run, it will be beneficial. Due to the shortage of women, only the highest quality men will marry and have children (on average) producing a eugenic effect. Low-quality men will have no children and their DNA will disappear. · Jan 31 at 9:12pm
I disagree that it will be good in the long run, because by about 2015, China will have reached its peak working force population during a period where it still wants an economy in high growth. Unless the labor force gets really productive really fast, the notion that China is going to get old before it gets rich is going to bite it in the behind.
Also, in the short run, a lot of guys are going to feel really stifled. I'm sort of being facetious here, but imagine a giant group of unmarried men, with no wifely civilizing. That just can't be good for anybody.