中国养老模式:传统文化、家庭边界和代际关系

Chinese Old Age Support:Traditional Culture,Family Boundary and Intergenerational Relation

运用理性选择理论分析当代中国的养老模式,从亲子间互动的角度解释了中国社会的代际关系及由此引出的家庭养老模式;社会经济变革剥夺了老年父母在家庭内部的核心地位,当父母失去了经济控制力及孝道所赋予的权威,子女也不再对父母绝对顺从,亲子之间必然会出现一种新的代际关系;虽然中国的社会结构性变化削弱了家庭中长辈的权威,但维持良好并持久的亲子关系的客观经济需求却仍然存在;在中国包括孝道在内的文化环境的影响下,父母通过投入大量家庭资源以建立强有力的亲子关系,并由此保证成年子女履行代际之间的"合约"不失为一个非常有效的选择;父母和子女这种互动行为的结果是家庭的边界涵盖了老年父母和成年子女的相对独立的家庭,而且家庭养老能够在没有来自国家或个人家庭负面惩戒的情况下得以保证。

Using the rational choice perspective,this paper analyzes the pattern of old age support in contemporary China.From the angle of the interaction between parents and children,it interprets the intergenerational relation in Chinese society and the pattern of the family old age support derived therefrom.Great social and economic transformations in China have significantly eroded the central position of elders in the family.When the parents have lost the economic control power and the authority provided by filial piety,the children are no longer absolutely obedient to their parents and a new intergenerational relation ensues inevitably.However,while the structural changes in Chinese society have significantly weakened the elders′ authority to exert control over their grown children,the objective economic requirements to maintain a good and lasting parents-children relation still remains.In China,under the influence of the cultural environment encompassing filial piety,it may after all be accepted as a very effective choice for the parents to establish a powerful parents-children relation by putting in a large amount of family resources,thus ensuring that the grown children to fulfill the ＂contract＂ between generations.The outcome of the interaction behavior between the parents and children is that the family boundary contain the relatively independent families of the elder parents and grown children,and the family old age support can be guaranteed even in the absence of negative disciplining from either the state or the individual family.