Only Child Generation Has Reached Marriage Age and China’s Family Structure Will Be Reshuffled
“421 Family”, that is, after a pair of only child get married and give birth to a child, their family structure will consist of 4 parents, one child and themselves. In the expected future, China’s family “pyramid” of four generations in one household will be rapidly evolved into the family structure of “reverse pyramid”, and “421 Family” will become a new family mainstream of China. With appearance of the “new family”, the traditional family relation of the whole China will be toppled over.
The ancient sage, Mencius said, “There are three ways not to be filial, and the greatest is having no descendant.” “421 Family” expresses that “now child is the only hope”, and DINK family claims that it is not a fun to have a child. Some experts are worried about this situation and think that it will make family function declined and traditional social structure broken up because reduction of blood relations will directly endanger the cognation network and its social ethics lasting for thousands of years in China. Some years later, Chinese people will have no cousin and no maternal or patrilateral aunt and uncle, and the more worrying thing is that only the extreme minority of population have sister or brother, and then the family cell will be broken up. At the same time, number of the aging elder will be increased sharply, and maintenance burden borne by only child will become heavier, which will directly try out the unsound social welfare system of China even if after 10 years.
“421 Family” on behalf of new family vividly shows, on the one hand, a whole new situation of socalled modern life, on the other hand, means that China’s family is at a key point for new game rules of the society. The whole China is in an age where traditional family framework is being broken up and changed from a “pyramid” to a “reverse pyramid”. As a result, the direction of economic investment is changed, which now are all piled upon the “Only Child”; and the operating mode of family is also changed, and the family stress is transferred from traditional culture succession to economic investment and financing.
It seems to most only children that it is a happy thing if their parents help to bring up their children. However, they are also worried that the outdated educational mode of their parents will affect the growth of their children. Maybe, the dispute on educational mode for next generation can be neutralized and avoided, but new dispute on the family’s operating mode and living mode will be easily triggered.
Somebody claims that a “421” family consists of 7 cards, of which, although all the cards cannot be flung up at random, there are 4 major cards, one trump card to be absolutely kept and 2 key cards, and the whole suit of cards will fall into mess without the 2 key cards. All the cards are important and cannot be flung up, but now, they are required to be reshuffled. Anyway, the national policy of family planning issued before 27 years has decided that “421” family will substitute the existing family pattern; as you sow, so will you reap. However, the “2’s” still need to be further sharpened to act as the accelerator of social production and bear the heavy burden of family. With appearance of such whole new family structure, they are reshuffled in a whole new way in terms of household financing and investment, life goal and plan and social interpersonal relation because the complete set of social game rules has already been changed.
