Childless elderly require more than financial support

Spring Festival means happy family reunions for most Chinese people. But for parents that have lost their only child, the festival is a time of sadness as it only reminds them their loss.

Governments at all levels make efforts to support these families during the festival. There are many media reports of local authorities providing financial aid to families that have lost their only child, or civil servants and social workers visiting these families during the holiday.

But what these parents really need is not flowers, gifts or even money during the holidays, but rather a sound institutional arrangement for their well-being when they grow old, as they have no children to look after them in their old age.