家庭权力结构变迁与农村失能老人赡养

The Change of Family Power Structure and The Support of Rural Disabled Elderly

失能老人赡养是农村养老的关键环节,历来以家庭赡养为主。传统民间法中的孝道习俗、“养儿防老”的因素作为长期以来乡村社会秉持的基本理念在当下的农村社会中屡屡遭受挑战。原因是现代社会进程中农村家庭权力结构以及实践机制发生深刻变化,家庭权力的凝聚条件发生改变,家长与子女的权力关系发生倾斜。尤其在多子女的家庭中,由于家庭赡养的责任在多子女中分配,容易导致责任分散。家庭协议作为一种“家庭法”虽然对赡养过程进行了必要的规制,但其弊端在于赡养一旦协议化也就同时淡漠了亲情,其后果是降低了养老质量,难以给老人带来精神慰藉,且容易形成意外的赡养事故。为此,应当在发展的过程中探索平衡家庭权力的各种方法和策略,积极发挥村委会等社会组织的作用。农村社会组织介入民间法实践也体现着当代民间法与国家法之间交融的新的渠道,发挥着既承接传统,又继往开来的新使命。

The support of the disabled elderly is a key link of rural elderly care.Family support has always been the mainstay.The traditional folk law of filial piety custom,“raising children for old age”factors as the basic concept of rural society uphold for a long time in the current rural society has been repeatedly challenged.The reason is that the family power structure and practice mechanism in the process of modern society have undergone profound changes.In addition,the power relations between parents and children have tilted.The family rights of the elderly in modern rural families,especially the disabled elderly are lower than in traditional societies,triggering a decrease in their control over family members.Therefore,the support of relying solely on filial piety is limited.Especially in families with many children,the responsibility for family support is distributed among many children,which can easily lead to the dispersion of responsibilities.Although the family agreement has made necessary regulation to the maintenance process,its disadvantage lies in that once the maintenance is negotiated,it is also indifferent to affection.As a consequence,the quality of old-age pension is reduced,it is difficult to bring spiritual comfort to the elderly,and accidental maintenance accident is easy to form.For this reason,the support of disabled persons in rural society should be guaranteed by exploring factors and forces outside the family.Therefore,we should explore various methods and strategies to balance family power in the process of development.The intervention of rural social organizations in the practice of folk law reflects a new channel for the integration of contemporary folk law and national law,and plays a new mission of not only carrying on the tradition but also carrying on the past and opening up the future.