Lonely elders give a sad feeling

Comment on "Don't leave our lonely elders to die in the dark" (China Daily, Oct 29)

I feel sad after reading such reports. What can we do? Since most young people in China, especially those born in the 1980s and 1990s, have to make a living in big or coastal cities, they have to leave their aged parents behind in the countryside or small cities.

After the reform and opening-up were introduced, many young parents rushed to cities to earn more money. As a result, they left their children in the care of grandparents or other relatives. This cycle reversed when the left-behind children grew up and had to leave home to make a living and thus had to leave their parents behind. No wonder, we see the mad rush of people to return home for the annual family get-together during Spring Festival.

As the report says, Chinese people once benefited from the family planning policy. Yet it has resulted in a disproportionate population of aging people, complicated further by the lack of enough young people to take care of them at home.

Though the government has taken many measures to improve the situation, it will take years before real change sets in.

CAROL-HUBEI, from China Daily website

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