The Utility of Enhancing Filial Piety for Elder Care in China

One way to judge the utility of enhancing filial piety in society is to assess its contribution to the utility of individual filial piety and of family elder care, as opposed to state elder care. Filial piety in society refers to filial piety as an aggregate social norm. The utility of individual filial piety and of family elder care refer to the expectations and desire for them. A survey of 1,219 older Chinese in six cities in China provided data for assessing the utility of enhancing filial piety. The results generally show that the social norm of filial piety does not consistently strengthen the utility of family elder care. Importantly, the effects of the social norm vary substantially among the six cities. These findings imply that enhancing filial piety in Chinese society would not raise the preference for family elder care over state elder care among the older population. That is, the social norm of filial piety would not sustain individual filial piety or family elder care in ways favorable to older Chinese.