China Considers Requiring Families to Care for Elderly from The Takeaway: Early Edition by feedback@thetakeaway.org (Public Radio International and WNYC Radio)

Caring for the elderly has long played an important role in Chinese culture. But rapid economic growth has forced adult Chinese children to abandon their hometowns to find jobs in other parts of the country — often leaving their elderly parents on their own. This cultural shift has led Chinese officials to consider a law that would require adult children to care for their parents. Sheryl WuDunn, banker with Mid-Market Securities and author of “China Wakes: The Struggle for the Soul of a Rising Power,” joins us to discuss this trend in China and how it compares to the United States. Lily Weasner immigrated to America from China in 1971. She recenlty visited China to care for her own mother, who was ill, a job that traditionally falls to the eldest child. Download the podcast here.