Grandparents Play Role in Chinese Expansion
Stronger emotional bonds with children and the availability of remittance from their adult children living in urban centers help to explain the results.
The findings, which are published in this month’s issue of the Journal of Gerontology, suggest that while traditional family dynamics are changing in rural China, the new arrangements of older caretakers fulfill a cultural ideal of tending to kin that has long been maintained. For these grandparents, the value of their contributions and rewards are quite tangible.
“Rural China is experiencing historically unprecedented migration,” said Merril Silverstein, professor in the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology. “Working-age people get jobs in cities – many of which aren’t pretty – but they pay three to four times more than what they’d get by working the farms.”
China has a population of 1.3 billion people, with approximately 60 percent living in rural areas. An increased population in urban centers helps fuel the nation’s rapid economic expansion.
When working-age adults migrate, leaving the elderly to care for their children, it occupies a culturally sanctioned role within the family and also helps to fuel the Chinese economy.
“By leaving their children behind, migrants can concentrate more on their work,” said Zhen Cong, co-author of the study. “They do not need to pay their children’s daily care and have lower education expenses.”
The data for the study was derived from a 2001 survey of 1,561 parents aged 60 and older living in rural Anhui Province, China. The Population Research Institute of Xi’an Jiaotong University also contributed to the study.
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The Chronicle of Higher Education mentioned USC’s $6 billion fundraising campaign. The story noted that USC had already raised $1 billion in a “quiet phase,” including the $200 million naming gift from USC Trustee and alumnus David Dornsife and wife Dana Dornsife to the USC Dornsife College.
The Guardian (U.K.) highlighted two major gifts to USC in a list of the 10 biggest philanthropic benefactors in America. The list included the $200 million naming gift from USC Trustee and alumnus David Dornsife and wife Dana Dornsife to the USC Dornsife College, and the $110 million gift from USC Trustee and USC Viterbi School alumnus John Mork and wife Julie to create the USC Mork Family Scholars Program.
The New York Times featured the USC U.S.-China Institute documentary “Assignment: China — The Week that Changed the World.” The documentary, part of a series, examines media coverage of the 1972 Nixon trip that reshaped U.S.-China relations after a quarter century of isolation and hostility. “People look back now and take it for granted that the outcome was preordained,” said the institute’s Mike Chinoy, who produced the documentary. Voice of America also featured the story.
Los Angeles Times featured the Oscar Senti-meter, a tool developed by the USC Annenberg School, Los Angeles Times and IBM that analyzes thousands of tweets about the Academy Awards nominees. The story noted that Mexican actor Demian Bechir received an enormous boost on Twitter the day of the nominations, with a total of 6,893 tweets mentioning him, a 47-fold increase from the day before. The story noted the tool uses language-recognition technology developed in collaboration with USC Viterbi School’s Signal Analysis and Interpretation Lab.
The Times of India (India) featured a three-day medical emergency training workshop organized in association with USC. At the workshop, held at GCS Medical College in India, 50 doctors and more than 100 paramedics learned how to improve emergency support systems. William Mallon of the Keck School of USC said that discussion topics included the use of portable ultrasonic devices to scan patients. “The ultrasound applications help physicians make accurate and timely decisions,” he noted. Daily News & Analysis (India) also featured the workshop.
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