2015年CRI China's One-Child Generation Reports for Duty

 

Thirty-year-old Wang Dongyu is a full-time¹ housewife with a 3-year-old son. Both she and her husband are the only child of their family.

Wang says it is not unexpected for a woman who just few years ago still crazed about Hello Kitty dolls and South Korean romance² dramas.

"Only children indeed have a longer psychological weaning period. They are used to being taken care of so even when they are 24 or 25, they still feel like a child. It is actually not much different even after having their own children. It is customary³ that it is once again the duty of the grandparents to take care of the new borns."

One may wonder whether it is possible for this generation to handle two children as the central government officially ended its one-child policy earlier this year.

Wang Dongyu quit her job when she was expecting her son. Now she says she wants another child but will not give up her career again.

"I will not consider quitting my job if another child is coming. I may have to ask my parents to help me."

However, Wang's mother Chen Hairong is not this confident.

"I think it is too much for them to face social competitions, look after the elderly and the next generation at the same time. It is compounded if the elderly have health problems. So of course we will help them."

Theoretically there will be a 4-2-2 structure for each typical one-child family - four grandparents, the couple and their two children. 

Thirty-year-old Wang Dongyu says she is worried about what to do when their parents get old.

"One day they will get sick and need particular care and we have our job and two children. It makes me nervous even thinking about it. I do not know the best answer at least for now."

While her father Wang Xudong says it is not an issue at all.

"It used to the duty of the children to take care of the elderly. Now they have four or even more elders to care of as well as their own job. I believe there will not a problem, because a maturing social security system will take care of us. We have steady income so we will not put more burden on them. And I feel completely OK to be sent to a nursing home if one day I need constant care. What they need to do is just some occasional visits. I think I will be content."

It used to be a serious worry for some people that a slew⁴ of social problems will come out at this point. While, at least for now it seems to be unfounded - more and more one-child grown-ups are reporting for duty.

1 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

2 romance   

n.恋爱关系，浪漫气氛，爱情小说，传奇

参考例句：

• She wrote a romance about an artist's life in Tokyo.她写了一个关于一位艺术家在东京生活的浪漫故事。
• They tried to rekindle the flames of romance.他们试图重燃爱火。

3 customary   

adj.习惯上的，惯常的，合乎习俗的

参考例句：

• He makes his customary visit every week.他每星期都按照惯例造访一次。
• It is customary with me to do so.这样做是我的习惯。

4 slew   

v.（使）旋转；n.大量，许多

参考例句：

• He slewed the car against the side of the building.他的车滑到了大楼的一侧，抵住了。
• They dealt with a slew of other issues.他们处理了大量的其他问题。