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Another detail is that Chinese people generally retire at 50, and turning 50 prompted the author to reevaluate what they were doing and write this post.
by faitswulff 2y ago
Another detail is that Chinese people generally retire at 50, and turning 50 prompted the author to reevaluate what they were doing and write this post.
- Havoc 2y agoInteresting. How does that work out financially? 50 seems quite early by western standards
- killingtime74 2y agoChildren old enough to look after parents by then. Traditionally not much of a concept of pension or retirement savings. Source: Chinese. My dad and us lived with his parents, looking after them. We're not from some village, parents were professionals in Hong Kong.
- number6 2y agoI find this very fascinating, can you eleborate How does this work? Your children move in with you, or your parents move in and then you provide not only for yourself but also for your parents? What do the parents do in the household? 50 isn't an age where you are considered old age... in the west at least.
- killingtime74 2y agoSo I'm no historian, I believe traditionally the whole family lived together due to lack of money. This happened rurally or in towns. My dad grew up poor and all 8 of them (6 kids) lived in 1 room. Over time kids moved out and the parents transitioned to living with one of the kids, in this case my dad. My dad did well as a professional and provided for all of us including some spending money for my grandparents. My grandma passed away in her 60s so it wasn't long but my grandad stayed with us until the end, no nursing home or anything. It was great because I got to live with him until the end, seeing him every day. My grandad spent most of his time going to yumcha, day trading stocks at the stock brokers offices (very common past time for the elderly in HK), playing majong and cooking. It seemed like a pretty good retirement. He lived to his early 80s. He did retire early by western standards. He was a logistics foreman then a small shopkeeper. The bargain is that he provided for the kids so they then took care of them. Oh also he would have worked longer than most of us, barely finished middle school, definitely no university. I guess I'm the first generation that has broken this long tradition. My parents don't expect to live with me, but would like to live nearby.
- voxic11 2y agoThe parents take care of their children's children.
- trustno2 2y agoThey live in the house and help with the children. The woman then have more time and can have another job. It's not a new concept, it was common in Europe too. The concept of children leaving at 20-ish and then just being away the rest of their life is what is new.
- greatgib 2y agoIn other south Asian countries, it is expected that children take care of their parents when they retire. Sometimes children go work abroad and send money back home to support parents. The main idea is that your parents supported you financially during your childhood, studies,.. now you owe them to support them. Sometimes other distant family members will also ask for money without shame as it is kind of a due if you can afford to. It is very strange as it is a completely different mindset as the western one where elders are always supposed to support younger ones, even if they might be wealthier than you. For a parent to not be able to pay for their children is usually shameful.
- em-bee 2y agoby tradition the eldest son stays with his parents. when he gets married, the wife moves in with them and they take over the household, including taking care of the husbands parents. the parents in turn help the couple to raise their children, and pass on all their knowledge and experience. and this wasn't driven by lack of money. the parents often went out of their way to build out the house for their son. one friend i visited had a house with three floors and a beautiful courtyard. on the face of it, a beautiful multi-generation lifestyle, if it weren't focused on boys. because that is the reason why having a boy is favored. why one woman told me how her husband was in prison because he defended his wife against her father who attacked his own daughter for not having children. why another woman had a nervous breakdown because her first child was a girl, to the point that she rejected her own daughter and it took years for her to recover and accept the girl. these are just anecdotes, but their severity suggests that this expectation is not uncommon. the irony of the second story is that the husbands parents weren't bothered by the girl at all. they loved her. it was the womans own upbringing that caused her reaction.
- The_Colonel 2y ago> Children old enough to look after parents by then. Isn't it rather one child looking after two parents these days?
- killingtime74 2y agoThis didn't affect everyone (rural families or outside of that policy's time period). We also never had one child policy in Hong Kong.
- wil421 2y agoIt’s 50 for women factory workers which makes sense. 30 years in a factory is going to be harsh on your body. For white collar workers google says 55 for females and 60 for males.
- faitswulff 2y agoI suspect it depends on what generation is retiring, because my older white collar relatives are retiring upon hitting 50. I don’t know if that holds true for younger generations.
- dragonelite 2y agoDam retirement at 50 sign me up.
- gunapologist99 2y agoKeyboard keys getting too stiff to press? ;)
- dragonelite 2y ago30 years of making rest endpoints and sql queries for a boss is more then enough for a life time. :P
- andy_ppp 2y agoThey retire to raise their kids children quite often while the parents work work work. A different system than ours.