Chinese families traditionally rely on children to support parents financially when the parents retire from work. When China implemented the One-Child Policy in 1980, a slogan was advertised all over China: “One-Child policy is great. The government will take care of you when you get old.” The authorities also said that pensions for all eligible parents would come from social securities collected from taxpayers.
However, in recent years, many parents who have lost their only child have also lost their only hope because they had trusted this attractive slogan and did not have enough savings for their retirement.
On Aug. 6, 2020, a group of “bereaved parents who lost their only child” in Harbin went to the provincial government to demand that Chinese authorities fulfill their promise.
