Daughters show more filial respect than sons

BEIJING - Chinese daughters tend to show more filial piety to their parents than sons according to survey results revealed by the Beijing News on Tuesday.

The survey, conducted by the Center for Healthy Aging and Development Studies (CHADS) with Peking University, was carried out since 1988 among 90,000 families.

According to the survey, 45 percent of the very elderly attended to by their daughters and sons-in-law are more content than those who are taken care of by their sons and daughters-in-law.

Moreover, the death rate of the senior citizens who only raise daughters is 10 percent less than the death rate of those who merely have sons, and the difference is even more apparent in rural areas than in cities.

"The results show that people get more rewards for raising daughters than sons, especially in rural areas," said Zeng Yi, director with the CHADS, adding that Chinese people should correct the tradition of looking up to men and down on women.

According to the China National Committee On Aging, China had about 185 million people above the age of 60, or 13.7 percent of the population, as of the end of last year.

By 2053, the number of Chinese senior citizens is expected to rocket from the current 185 million to 487 million, or 35 percent of the population.

Tuesday is China's Seniors' Day, also known as the Double Ninth Festival as it is celebrated on the ninth day of the ninth month of the Chinese lunar calendar. The festival, which dates back more than 2,000 years, is traditionally an occasion for eating symbolic cakes and appreciating chrysanthemums.