Who will care for older people in China? Exploring the implications of gender imbalance at birth

Abstract

Users who downloaded this article also downloaded: (2014),"Familial perceptions of the impact of outcome-focused homecare with older people experiencing dementia and living alone", Working with Older People, Vol. 18 Iss 2 pp. 90-96 http://dx.(2014),"Progress towards Healthy Ageing in Europe: to promote active healthy lifestyles in 45-68 year olds through workplace, rather than traditional health-related settings", Working with Older People, Vol. 18 Iss 2 pp. 51-57 http:// dx.(2014),"Demographic shifts: how an increasing "active Third Age" could come to shape the future of our cities", Working with Older People, Vol. 18 Iss 2 pp. 67-74 http://dx. Access to this document was granted through an Emerald subscription provided by emerald-srm:368933 [] For AuthorsIf you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -The purpose of this paper is to provide evidence about the possible cause and effect of the problematic gender imbalance at birth in China. Much of the literature on this issue presents discussions based on the traditional assumption that Chinese sons are more involved in taking care of parents than Chinese daughters are, and thus, that Chinese parents prefer sons. Yet, empirical evidence is lacking. Design/methodology/approach -This paper verifies the assumption by using the "Preference Parameters Study in China 2011," which conducted 652 face-to-face interviews with randomly selected individuals in six major Chinese cities. Findings -This paper first presents empirical evidence that Chinese sons (and their wives) are more likely, compared to daughters (and their husbands), to be primary caregivers for parents. The paper also reports the finding that Chinese parents' dependencies on their children would not necessarily decrease with the development of social security, although that may be the case when a child has a highly educated spouse. Practical implications -The Chinese government needs to increase long-term care services for older people, especially since more women are being educated. Originality/value -Although this study has data collection limitations, with data collected in only six major cities, the problematic nature of gender imbalance at birth and the lack of available empirical evidence demand that r...

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“…The higher prevalence for caregiver neglect may be associated with several reasons. First, Chinese women who have traditionally provided primary care to older family members have increasingly joined the workforce in recent years (Kadoya & Yin, 2014), potentially reducing their ability to provide hands-on care. It is also possible that the younger generation interprets traditional values of filial piety differently from the older generation and considers family caregiving as an option rather than an absolute obligation (Cheung & Yu, 2009).…”