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Chinese one-child families in the age of migration: middle-class transnational mobility, ageing parents, and the changing role of filial piety

Mengwei Tu Orcid Logo

The Journal of Chinese Sociology, Volume: 3, Issue: 1

Swansea University Author: Mengwei Tu Orcid Logo

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Abstract

One-child transnational families are the product of the “one-child” policy, access to foreign travel, and the rise of a middle class that could afford overseas education for the only child. One result was the possibility of the only child, following its Western-based education, settling (semi)perman...

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Published in: The Journal of Chinese Sociology
ISSN: 2198-2635
Published: Springer Science and Business Media LLC 2016
Online Access: Check full text

URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa62434
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spelling 2023-02-13T10:07:52.9145542 v2 62434 2023-01-24 Chinese one-child families in the age of migration: middle-class transnational mobility, ageing parents, and the changing role of filial piety 4a4416d98aa1645210377eac954a7ede 0000-0002-6855-1381 Mengwei Tu Mengwei Tu true false 2023-01-24 CSSP One-child transnational families are the product of the “one-child” policy, access to foreign travel, and the rise of a middle class that could afford overseas education for the only child. One result was the possibility of the only child, following its Western-based education, settling (semi)permanently in the host country. This situation raises the issue of how the only child balances the opportunities in the West with the filial responsibilities to ageing parents back in China. Recognising the diversity of family forms, this study highlights the “human story” of ageing and intergenerational relations in families split between China and the UK. Drawing on 40 interviews, which included one-child migrants in the UK and some of their parents in China, this article explores the views of both generations. The findings indicate that international migration and increased family affluence did not lead to the erosion of filial piety. However, the practice and perception of filial piety among these families underwent a complex transition. Distance and borders posed future significant barriers for parental long-term care. One-child migrants tended to compensate for the lack of material/practical care by providing long-distance emotional care for their parents. Both generations expressed ambivalence towards this new transnational family contract. Instead of focusing on the practical outcomes, this article argues for the importance of examining how the members of transnational families perceive their filial behaviour. This focus brings out the less visible changing dynamics of intergenerational care in the context of modernisation and globalisation. Journal Article The Journal of Chinese Sociology 3 1 Springer Science and Business Media LLC 2198-2635 Ageing, Transnational family, Filial piety, Chinese migration, One-child family 5 7 2016 2016-07-05 10.1186/s40711-016-0036-z COLLEGE NANME Criminology, Sociology and Social Policy COLLEGE CODE CSSP Swansea University 2023-02-13T10:07:52.9145542 2023-01-24T15:01:02.5420092 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences School of Social Sciences - Criminology, Sociology and Social Policy Mengwei Tu 0000-0002-6855-1381 1 62434__26572__6c525f469de6467ea0f4baf74bbec555.pdf 62434_VoR.pdf 2023-02-13T10:06:19.5885053 Output 592816 application/pdf Version of Record true © 2016 The Author(s). This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License true eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title Chinese one-child families in the age of migration: middle-class transnational mobility, ageing parents, and the changing role of filial piety
spellingShingle Chinese one-child families in the age of migration: middle-class transnational mobility, ageing parents, and the changing role of filial piety
Mengwei Tu
title_short Chinese one-child families in the age of migration: middle-class transnational mobility, ageing parents, and the changing role of filial piety
title_full Chinese one-child families in the age of migration: middle-class transnational mobility, ageing parents, and the changing role of filial piety
title_fullStr Chinese one-child families in the age of migration: middle-class transnational mobility, ageing parents, and the changing role of filial piety
title_full_unstemmed Chinese one-child families in the age of migration: middle-class transnational mobility, ageing parents, and the changing role of filial piety
title_sort Chinese one-child families in the age of migration: middle-class transnational mobility, ageing parents, and the changing role of filial piety
author_id_str_mv 4a4416d98aa1645210377eac954a7ede
author_id_fullname_str_mv 4a4416d98aa1645210377eac954a7ede_***_Mengwei Tu
author Mengwei Tu
author2 Mengwei Tu
format Journal article
container_title The Journal of Chinese Sociology
container_volume 3
container_issue 1
publishDate 2016
institution Swansea University
issn 2198-2635
doi_str_mv 10.1186/s40711-016-0036-z
publisher Springer Science and Business Media LLC
college_str Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
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hierarchy_top_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
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hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
department_str School of Social Sciences - Criminology, Sociology and Social Policy{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Social Sciences - Criminology, Sociology and Social Policy
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description One-child transnational families are the product of the “one-child” policy, access to foreign travel, and the rise of a middle class that could afford overseas education for the only child. One result was the possibility of the only child, following its Western-based education, settling (semi)permanently in the host country. This situation raises the issue of how the only child balances the opportunities in the West with the filial responsibilities to ageing parents back in China. Recognising the diversity of family forms, this study highlights the “human story” of ageing and intergenerational relations in families split between China and the UK. Drawing on 40 interviews, which included one-child migrants in the UK and some of their parents in China, this article explores the views of both generations. The findings indicate that international migration and increased family affluence did not lead to the erosion of filial piety. However, the practice and perception of filial piety among these families underwent a complex transition. Distance and borders posed future significant barriers for parental long-term care. One-child migrants tended to compensate for the lack of material/practical care by providing long-distance emotional care for their parents. Both generations expressed ambivalence towards this new transnational family contract. Instead of focusing on the practical outcomes, this article argues for the importance of examining how the members of transnational families perceive their filial behaviour. This focus brings out the less visible changing dynamics of intergenerational care in the context of modernisation and globalisation.
published_date 2016-07-05T04:22:03Z
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