Chinese Family Obligations Toward Chronically Ill Elderly Members: Comparing Caregivers in Beijing and Hong Kong

Abstract

In this ethnographic study, the author outlines the contextual background to family caregiving in China and Hong Kong. She interviewed 10 Beijing family caregivers and compared them with 35 Hong Kong family caregivers, examining cultural differences and continuities in the care of the elderly with chronic illnesses that necessitate almost complete dependency. The socially circulating messages and resources (e.g., pension allocation, marriage laws, housing options, and women's employment) inform an individual's decisions on negotiating and enacting care. Beijing family caregivers described reciprocity and the emotional forces of affection and hostility. The author highlights an emergent family transition both in China and in Hong Kong from presocialist duty-centered family obligations to those now centered on affective relationships, and she details caregiving options available within societies that are culturally identifiable as Chinese.