{"id":2713,"date":"2018-09-24T17:12:26","date_gmt":"2018-09-24T17:12:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org\/blog\/?p=2713"},"modified":"2018-09-24T17:12:26","modified_gmt":"2018-09-24T17:12:26","slug":"chinas-one-now-two-child-policy-turns-38-destitute-widows-the-invisible-victims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org\/blog\/chinas-one-now-two-child-policy-turns-38-destitute-widows-the-invisible-victims\/","title":{"rendered":"China’s One (Now Two) Child Policy Turns 38: Destitute Widows, the Invisible Victims"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u201cMrs. Li\u201d (name changed to protect her privacy). Credit: Women\u2019s Rights Without Frontiers<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cMrs. Li\u201d\u00a0<\/i>is 70 years old and lives in rural China. Her husband died 30 years ago of leukemia. They could not afford treatment, so her husband died without it.\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n

She had three children.\u00a0\u00a0Her daughter was killed in a car accident.\u00a0\u00a0Her two sons are living in different villages and do not take care of her.<\/i><\/p>\n

Because she does not have enough money for food, she eats only vegetables \u2013 no meat.\u00a0\u00a0Sometimes she eats only salt.\u00a0\u00a0She bought a rope ten years ago, so she can hang herself one day if she cannot take care of herself any more or if she gets sick.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

This week marks the 38th<\/sup>anniversary of China\u2019s One-Child (now Two-Child) Policy, the most massive social experiment in human history, responsible for hundreds of millions of forced abortions and sterilizations, as well as the sex-selective abortion of tens of millions of baby girls.\u00a0\u00a0These casualties are as well known as they are tragic.<\/p>\n

Relatively unknown, however, is another enormous demographic group virtually ignored thus far:\u00a0the elderly, especially widows.\u00a0To address this, Women\u2019s Rights Without Frontiers announces a major, new initiative:\u00a0\u00a0our\u00a0Save a Widow Campaign.<\/a><\/p>\n

China\u2019s current elderly population is\u00a0241 million<\/a>, 17.3 % of the nation\u2019s total population, and rising.\u00a0\u00a0China\u2019s elderly population is set to peak at\u00a0nearly half a billion<\/a>, or 35% of the total population, in 2050.<\/p>\n

The One Child Policy has destroyed traditional Chinese family structure.\u00a0\u00a0Before September 25, 1980, when the policy was officially instituted, China was mostly rural.\u00a0\u00a0Farming families were large, as they needed to be in order to work the land.\u00a0\u00a0Typically, one couple would have many children, and each of their children would have many children.\u00a0When the original couple grew old and needed care, their needs were spread among many children and grandchildren, so that no one felt burdened.<\/p>\n

Because of the One-Child Policy, many families now find themselves in the inverse position of one couple supporting four parents and eight grandparents.\u00a0\u00a0That couple also needs to support themselves and their children.\u00a0\u00a0Thus, many working age couples find themselves stretched beyond capacity.\u00a0\u00a0Many of them simply do not have the resources of time and money to care for so many aging parents and grandparents.\u00a0Additionally, with urbanization, many young couples have moved from the countryside to the cities, in order to make ends meet financially.\u00a0\u00a0This move means that many elderly are left alone, with no family member present to care for them.<\/p>\n

Sadly, senior suicide is on the rise.\u00a0\u00a0According to a\u00a0report<\/a>\u00a0in the China Daily — a Chinese government\u2013affiliated English language news outlet — the suicide rate of rural Chinese elderly has increased 500% in the past two decades, from 100 to 500 per 100,000.\u00a0\u00a0According to sociologist Liu Yanwu, who studied the issue for six years, \u201c. . . I was more shocked by the lack of concern in villages where the elderly commit suicide . . . It seems that death is nothing to fear, and suicide is a normal, even a happy end.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the past, elders were venerated and cared for by their children and grandchildren.\u00a0\u201cFilial piety was valued in old China, but many elderly people in rural areas can no longer depend on their children as a result of the great economic and social changes over the past three decades,\u201d continues Liu, \u201cand the pension system fails to compensate . . . In China, farmers are vulnerable, and old farmers are the most vulnerable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reggie Littlejohn, founder and president of\u00a0Women\u2019s Rights Without Frontiers<\/a>, stated, \u201cthe studies show that the elderly, especially elderly widows who traditionally have depended on their children to support them in old age, are becoming destitute and so desperate that they are committing suicide.\u00a0\u00a0They are the invisible victims of the demographic disaster caused by the One Child Policy and are in urgent need of help.\u00a0\u00a0For this reason, we are now launching our\u00a0Save a Widow Campaign.<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0We have boots on the ground inside of China, restoring the dignity and giving practical support to abandoned, destitute widows in China to show them someone cares.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the widows we are helping is Mrs. Li, whose story is recounted at the beginning of this article.\u00a0\u00a0Our fieldworker went to her door and encouraged her, saying that we will give her a monthly stipend to help her eat every day, so that there will be no more days where she eats only salt.\u00a0\u00a0We have given her hope.\u00a0\u00a0She was so happy she said that we are like a divine being, \u201csaving people who are living helpless and hard lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

To learn more about the Save a Widow Campaign, click\u00a0here.<\/a><\/p>\n

Related Links<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Can China Afford Rapid Aging?\u00a0https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC4949193\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Suicide Among Elderly Increases\u00a0http:\/\/www.chinadaily.com.cn\/china\/2014-08\/04\/content_18239837.htm<\/a><\/p>\n

China\u2019s Elderly Population to Peak at Half a Billion in 2050\u00a0https:\/\/gbtimes.com\/chinas-elderly-population-to-peak-at-half-a-billion-in-2050<\/a><\/p>\n

China\u2019s Elderly Population Continues to Rise, With 241 Million Now Over 60\u00a0https:\/\/gbtimes.com\/chinas-elderly-population-continues-to-rise<\/a><\/p>\n

Save a Widow Campaign\u00a0https:\/\/www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org\/index.php?nav=help-chinese-widows<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cMrs. Li\u201d\u00a0is 70 years old and lives in rural China. Her husband died 30 years ago of leukemia. They could not afford treatment, so her husband died without it.\u00a0\u00a0 She had three children.\u00a0\u00a0Her daughter was killed in a car accident.\u00a0\u00a0Her … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[49,8,170,123,1,55],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2713","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chinas-one-child-policy","category-one-child-policy","category-suicide","category-two-child-policy","category-uncategorized","category-womens-rights-without-frontiers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2713"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2713\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2716,"href":"https:\/\/www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2713\/revisions\/2716"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.womensrightswithoutfrontiers.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}