The Chinese have traditionally been happy with big-sized families, which often placed several generations under one roof. But now great changes have taken place. The number of empty-nest families, in which there is only an elderly couple or one aged person, is on the rise,1 particularly in some inland mountainous rural areas. This occurrence is closely related to China's overall economic environment, due to the accelerated process of urbanization, the imbalance of economic development between the inland and coastal regions, and the flow of rural surplus labor to big cities on the eastern coast.2 Some farmers have established their careers in those cities and become urban dwellers, while their parents are left behind in rural homes.
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