China Exclusive: China mulls time off work to promote filial piety

Some provinces and cities in China are considering a holiday exclusively for busy people to spend more time with their parents.

Beijing has proposed in its 2016-2020 development plan encouraging employers to grant days off to employees when their parents celebrate a birthday, need medical help, are seriously ill, or are dying.

A similar document released by east China's Anhui Province encourages grown-up children to live near or with their parents, and asks employers to grant paid leave to those who take care of disabled parents.

Some other provinces even allow an only child to take up to 20 days off each year to care for parents over 60 years old and in hospital.

"Such time off is very precious to me," said Li Tingfei, an only child who works in Anhui with parents in Chongqing Municipality.

"Calls and video chats, no matter how frequent, are no match for having a meal at the same table with them, or looking after them when they are ill in bed," Li said.

But You Xiaoxu, an intern at a hospital,is more concerned about whether the holiday will ever materialize. She works in a city just two hours away from her hometown, but tight scheduling and work load make it impossible for her to go home much. One of her colleague's mothers did not feel well but chose to keep it from her busy daughter. She was later diagnosed with terminal cancer.

"Doctors are so overwhelmed by work that they cannot even enjoy normal weekends or statutory holidays," You said.

Chen Kaizi, a Shanghai journalist, questioned the actual effects of the policy. "Those who love their parents will always find time to go home and fulfil their filial duties, with or without holidays. But can you make sure that everyone will spend the new time off with their parents, rather than travelling or doing something else?" Chen added.

According to the Ministry of Civil Affairs, there are more than 220 million people of 60 years old or above in China, accounting for over 16percent of the population. The National Health and Family Planning Commission also warned in a 2015 report that the number of empty-nest families in the country is growing.

"It is necessary for an aging China with a considerable number of one-child families to add a 'filial holiday', but effective execution will need the joint efforts on various parties," said Fan Hesheng, a sociologist at Anhui University.

He said both employees and employers should already know that taking care of the elderly is both a legal responsibility and a moral obligation.

However, Fan pointed out that the key to successful family life has always been love and devotion, not a holiday.

"People who have no filial piety, even under the same roof as their parents, hardly care. Some even live off their parents," Fan said. Endi