When I was a child, I remember hanging banners in the village and slogans on earthen walls reading "Family planning, basic national policy" and "Only child is good, the government will provide for the elderly". Today, most of these parents are entering old age, and the only children of the post-80s and post-90s generations they raised have also come to the time to provide for them.
In the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the population was only 542 million. In order to promote the domestic economic development, the state encourages people to have more children. But by 1957, the population had grown to 647 million, and almost every family had five or six children, which seriously affected the improvement of people's material living standards. As a result, Ma Yinchu put forward the "new population theory" that year, calling for a nationwide family planning policy to limit excessive population growth. Since 1966, the mainland has promoted family planning in urban and rural areas, advocating the concept of fewer births and fewer children.
It was not until 1982 that family planning was officially included in the basic national policy, and by this time the Chinese population had exceeded 1 billion. In order to eliminate people's anxiety about the problem of old-age care, the state has put forward the solemn promise of "the only child is good, the government will provide for the elderly". Since then, the first generation of only children has been born and continued until January 1, 2016, when the two-child policy was lifted. During this time, nearly 180 million people became only children.
However, the reality of the only child faces a dilemma. Since the introduction of the family planning policy in the early 70s, the first batch of only children have entered middle age, and they are already overwhelmed by the pressure of providing for their children and raising their children. On Zhihu, some people asked "what is the experience of being an only child", and one of them answered the voice of countless only children: "Don't dare to die, dare not leave my hometown, especially hope to make money, because only I can take care of my parents." Many people lament that when they were young, they were favored by their parents and they were sure to get it, but they faced many difficulties when they grew up. The sweetness of childhood has now turned bitter.
A one-child family has to deal with the elderly care of four elderly parents, while also taking care of the children and having to work, which they not only have more than enough, but also cannot afford it. Coupled with the current situation of high housing prices and employment difficulties, in order to gain a foothold in the city, the work cannot be relaxed. The only children of the post-80s generation sighed frequently: "It's stressful and miserable!" "The concept of raising children to prevent old age is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people on the mainland, and many elderly people are willing to live with their children and let their children be responsible for their food, clothing, housing and transportation. They are reluctant to go to social or government pension institutions, and even see this as unfilial behavior. This has invisibly increased the pressure on the elderly of the only child, making many young people feel overwhelmed. This is no longer just a problem for individual families, but a widespread social phenomenon, and the situation is serious and imminent.
Therefore, Zhu Liejie, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, put forward a suggestion: the government should pay for the pension of one-child families! This gave me a new perspective on the experts and cadres. The government should be aware of the current plight faced by the only child and provide more policy support and help to reduce the pressure on the only child. At the same time, we must also recognize the change of the concept of raising children and preventing the elderly, advocate the concept of common concern and support for the elderly, and make the problem of old-age care a challenge that the whole society can solve together.
All in all, we need to recognize the urgency and difficulty of the problem of the elderly care of the one-child family, and at the same time, the government and all sectors of society should work together to provide more support and help for the only child, so that they can better cope with the pressure of the elderly and the family. This is not only a personal problem, but also a social problem, which requires the attention and efforts of the whole society.