中国家庭一向尊老爱幼。在大家庭里，老一辈人的意见受到尊重，小一辈的人得到全家的爱护。中国宪法规定赡养父母是成年子女义不容辞的责任。在城市里，不和家里老人一起住的年轻夫妇给老人生活费并帮助他们干家务活儿。在农村，尽管大家庭解体了，许多结了婚的儿子和他的家人还和父母住在同一个院子里。对他们来说，分家不过是分灶而已。结了婚的儿子往往把房子盖在父母家附近，这样父母和子女互相帮助、探望都和过去一样方便。
In extended families, older member's opinion was respected, and the youngest members are loved and taken good cane of by all. China's constitution stipulates that grown-up children are duty-bound to support their parents. In the cities, couples who do not live with their aged parents give the latter living allowances and help them with the house chores. In the countryside, though quite a number of extended families have dissolved, many marred sons and their families continue to live in the same courtyard with their parents. To them, breaking up the extended family means cooking their meals separately. Married sons most often have their houses built near their parents’ Home, making it convenient for parents and children to help and visit each other as be-fore.
