The importance of studying the processes and experiences of ageing in China is contextualised by its demographic shift towards an ageing society coupled with increasingly diverse forms, relations, and sociocultural values undergirding the Chinese family. Nested within ‘linked lives’, ageing involves complex and dynamic social interactions, and is often a familial rather than individual matter in the Chinese family. The persisting values of filial piety and enduring intergenerational exchanges render the exploration of parent-child relations a linchpin to a sound understanding of the dynamics of ageing. Meanwhile, social and welfare policies pertaining to old-age care vary considerably across contemporary Chinese societies spanning across mainland China, Taiwan, Singapore, etc. A comparative examination of distinct Chinese societies could promise indispensable insights into how regimes and social policies shape the interaction between ageing and intergenerational relations.
Edited by: Stevi Jackson and Jieyu Liu