Chinese citizens can no longer ignore their mother's calls for weeks; a new law requires people with parents over 60 years old to visit them "frequently."
The new law also mandates that offspring of elderly parents make sure they are taken care of spiritually and financially, CNN reported.
In China, there are about 185 million people 60 years or older, and the number is only going to rise. More than a fifth of them are living below the poverty line. Low pensions often leave the elderly dependent on their children for support after retirement.
The "Law of Protection of Rights and Interest of the Aged" was recently amended after a whole slew of reports claiming elderly parent were being abused and neglected.
In one case a farmer had his mother living in pigsty with a 440Ib. sow. Chen Shoutian, the suspect, claimed his mother had been happy with her situation.
"She wants to stay here because she feels it is convenient," Shoutian said.
Lola Wang, a 28-year-old marketing officer in Shanghai, wishes she could visit her parents more often. She makes the six-hour trip to see them only twice a year because of her hectic work schedule.
"I feel like I should visit my parents more but having a job in the financial industry means I have to work long hours and sacrifice some of my personal time for work," Wang said.
In many cases, China's one-child policy has broken down the barriers of traditional extended families, but the new law may help keep the smaller families in touch.
"People are accusing young people of not visiting their parents enough," Wang said. "Admittedly, some of them use their career and long working hours as an excuse. My problems are that I do care about my parents, but I have little vacation and my parents live far away," Wang said.
Respect for the elderly is a deeply ingrained aspect of Chinese culture, the principle is still there but has most certainly weakened.
"The traditional family support system is eroding for many reasons and I think the government would like to slow this process down," said Albert Park, the director of the Emerging Markets Institute at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
Some parents don't want a law to tell their children when they have to pay a visit. Cheng Zhegang, 50, who has a daughter studying in the U.S., thinks the law will interfere with his child's success.
"I don't want my daughter to have a burden both physically and spiritually," he said. "For me, my daughter's career is the most important thing. As the parent of an only child, I have spent so much time and money on my daughter's education and now I want her to be successful," he said.
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