Young Chinese Incapable of Supporting Their Parents?

A recent survey found that over 90 percent of the young people born after 1980's in China feel incapable of taking care of their parents.

Most of them say they don't have a lot of spare money or even time to look after their parents.

Chen Zhe has more.
Twenty-eight-year-old Ma Dong is an engineer in Beijing. He bought a house with his parents paying part of the down payment. Earning about 10,000 yuan a month (roughly 1,400 US dollars) he feels great pressure in taking care of his parents.

"Now I have to pay more than five thousand yuan in bank loans every month and to save up to pay back the money I borrowed from my friends. The living cost in Beijing is high. My wife and I plan to have a baby in the near future. Thinking about all this, it's really a lot of pressure to support my parents."

Ma Dong is one of millions of young Chinese people in this type of difficult situation.

Many of these young people were born into single-child families in the 1980s under the national family planning policy and they now face the task of looking after their parents.

A recent survey published by the China Business Times found that over 90 percent of these young people feel incapable of taking care of their parents and half of them are in need of financial support from their parents.

However, Zhai Zhenwu, deputy director of the China Population Association thinks this survey is not true regarding young people's ability to support their parents.

"The survey shows that the post-80s generation is not confident in shouldering the responsibility. I understand that because they are experiencing a very tough time in life and face up the challenges from many aspects. However, when this generation grows older, they'll be more confident. The general social living condition has improved and they earn more than their parents. If their parents have the ability to take care of their grandparents, how can't they support their parents? "

Zhai Zhenwu says that elder people living in cities enjoy pension or subsidies for low-income families from the government. Their basic living can be ensured. However, those in rural areas used to count on the support from their offspring. As Chinese families have become smaller, the government should take more responsibility of looking after elderly people.

"Beijing has piloted community nursing, meaning communities should take care of the elderly living in them. But China still lags behind in providing public services for the elderly which range from catering to emotional support. It's a whole industry for the government to develop."

The number of people who are 60 and older in China increased to more than 167 million in 2009, representing 12.5 percent of its total population.

For CRI, I'm Chen Zhe.