Aging families in Chinese society

Declining fertility rates and increased life expectancies over the last few decades have conspired to make China one of the more rapidly aging societies in the world. Aging Families in Chinese Society focuses on the accelerated social and demographic changes in China and examines their implications for family care and support for older adults.

Contributors to this landmark volume portray various challenges facing aging families in China as a result of reduced family size, changing gender expectations, rapid economic development and urbanization, rural-to-urban migration, and an emerging but still underdeveloped long-term care system. Divided into four thematic areas – Disability and Family Support; Family Relationships and Mental Health; Filial Piety and Gender Norms; and Long-term Care Preferences – chapters in this volume confront these burgeoning issues and offer salient policy and practice considerations not just for today’s aging population, but future generations to come.

Combining quantitative data from social surveys in China, comparative surveys in Taiwan and Thailand, and qualitative data from in-depth interviews, Aging Families in Chinese Societies will be of significant interest to students and researchers in aging and gerontology, China and East Asian Studies and population studies.

Merril D. Silverstein is a Professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Science and the Department of Sociology at Syracuse University, where he holds the Marjorie Cantor Chair in Aging Studies. His research has focused on aging in the context of family life, with added emphases on life course and international perspectives. He is a Brookdale Fellow and Fulbright Senior Scholar and between 2010 and 2014 served as editor-in-chief of Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences.