Visit your parents -- or get sued by them
China cracks down on adult children who may be neglecting or possibly abusing their elderly parents.
It's always good to visit Mom and Dad. In China, it's now a law.The national legislature there is now requiring that adult children visit their parents often. Otherwise, elderly parents who feel ignored can sue their kids. Wow, dinner conversations must be pretty awkward in that scenario.
The law is partly a reflection of a cultural change in parts of the developing country. The traditional extended family in China is fading, according to the Associated Press. Historically in many Asian cultures, aging parents and grandparents live with a child or other family member. Sending a parent to a nursing home was just not acceptable -- nor was it affordable for many families.
But that's changing, particularly as China's elderly population rapidly expands. Lately, the Chinese government has seen a growing number of reports of elder abuse. State media carried the story of one son in the well-to-do province of Jiangsu who reportedly forced his elderly mother to live in a pig pen for two years, according to the AP.
Elder-abuse cases in Hong Kong have risen 15% in the last two years, the South China Morning Post reported earlier this year. "Because of Chinese culture, elderly people are reluctant to reveal the disgraceful affairs of their families," the director of one advocacy group, Against Elderly Abuse, told the newspaper.
The new law doesn't say how often children must visit their parents -- and there may not be enough grounds here for any resulting lawsuit. But China now has nearly 167 million people over age 60, the BBC reports. While the law is partially intended to sustain the family unity that may be starting to fray in China, it's also an attempt to ensure that the oldest and weakest members of society are cared for.
More from Money Now
- Drug companies battle meth scourge
- The market's winners and losers of 2012
- Should stranded adventurers pay for own rescue?
I guess if my Grandmother had looked and acted like that old Prune on the front page, we wouldn't have visited either....But we are Great Grandparents now, so we are careful of what we say and do..
Unless someone pisses us off....
But I think we raised our offspring with love and respect....And that makes a difference.
Sorry but you are very wrong. I live part of the year in Mexico and part in the U.S. I pay for my insurance and you pay also through the nose. You are paying for nobody's insurance in anyother country. Your medical costs are high because you have no competition. No doctors or hospitals are in competition with anyone. A MRI in the U.S. costs $1,500.00. In Japan for the same MRI, the cost is $75.00 and the Japanese companies make money. I had a TARP operation in Mexico and it cost me $1,500.00. In the U.S., the cost was $30,000.00. A lady was stung by a bark scorpion in Arizona and she was charged $30,000.00 for the shots. The anti-venom had to be imported from Mexico. In Mexico, it would have cost her $200.00. You have a bunch of thieves running your medical programs. As far as all that help Americans do, most of it is to buy influence. Sorry I worked with AID projects for years and it is a totel sham. Build a grain spot in Nigeria to unload grain for American Grain companies. The Nigerians did not eat bread until convinced to do so by Americans. Civilized people eat bread and not yams. That some Americans help there parents yes, but that is not common anymore. The problem is you have traveled nowhere and so know nothing about how the rest of the world lives.
Elder abuse is one of thef fastest growing crimes in America. Good luck finding anyone to help an elderly person that is dying and in hospice care in America. It is almost as if the authorities think why bother they are going to die anyhow. My Mother was the victim of Elder Abuse by her Grandson. Horrible experience to witness and not be able to do anything about. Hospice was as crooked as the Grandson. Adult protective services did nothing. This is going on more often than you think. The elderly are being exploited not only for their social security checks but also for the drugs that are prescribed when they are dying in hospice care. Drugs like Oxycotin. These criminals will do anything to get their hands on it.
Glad to see a country holding the families accountable.
Its not always pleasant and your not always welcome. Visiting my mother in the nursing home always caused her to cuss me back to the day I was born. I would always leave after 5 minutes rather than take any more abuse.She had a frequently foul temper all her life. I'm sure there are a lot of people who are glad their parents are out of their life......
DATA PROVIDERS
Copyright © 2013 Microsoft. All rights reserved.
Quotes are real-time for NASDAQ, NYSE and AMEX. See delay times for other exchanges.
Fundamental company data and historical chart data provided by Thomson Reuters (click for restrictions). Real-time quotes provided by BATS Exchange. Real-time index quotes and delayed quotes supplied by Interactive Data Real-Time Services. Fund summary, fund performance and dividend data provided by Morningstar Inc. Analyst recommendations provided by Zacks Investment Research. StockScouter data provided by Verus Analytics. IPO data provided by Hoover's Inc. Index membership data provided by SIX Financial Information.
Japanese stock price data provided by Nomura Research Institute Ltd.; quotes delayed 20 minutes. Canadian fund data provided by CANNEX Financial Exchanges Ltd.
RECENT POSTS
Tired of constantly dying batteries, she came up with a device that could revolutionize energy storage -- and won $50,000 from Intel.
- Detroit in hot water over proposal to sell art
- Sears spirals toward oblivion
- Why aren't heads rolling at the IRS?
- Do we pay attention to roads and bridges now?
- Yahoo may be going after Hulu
- Apple's first computer could fetch $450,000
- AT&T adds sneaky fee onto its wireless bills
- Soaring ER use adds more pain to health costs
- Netflix gets 'Arrested Development' stars cheap
MARKET UPDATE
[BRIEFING.COM] Stocks entered the weekend on a mixed note as the S&P 500 shed 0.1% while the Dow ended with a gain of 0.1%.
The major averages began the day on a lower note as nine of ten sectors saw losses of more than 0.5%.
The consumer staples sector was the lone exception as the group spent the entire day in positive territory thanks to the relative strength of Dow component Procter & Gamble (PG 81.89, +3.19). The second-largest staple stock advanced ... More
More Market News
TOP STOCKS
Try as the bears might, they couldn't break US stocks. But investors still face frothy prices and considerable headwinds.
MSN MONEY'S
- Shared
- Commented
- Viewed
