My observations of Chinese grandparents' child raising is more on the negative side. Certainly they can help with infants and toddlers, but the problems start at older age. Teenagers, you know.
Given a city-dwelling couple today that decides to have 3 children, would be looking at possible 9 grandchildren by their retirement age. Not much time for mahjong or traveling.
I would continue this thought exercise by suggesting that Confucian principles such as filial piety could become challenged when child counts within families increase.
What may have worked once upon a time when China was a poorer country with more rural surroundings, may not work now.
Having to raise 2 or 3 princes/princesses instead of just one may hit fabrics of Chinese society in unexpected ways, and force developments that for the powers-that-be may offset the economic benefits of maintaining population.
Reading about latest developments in China's childbirth regulations (now going to 3 children per family), I started to think about the role that religions and related social organizations in western countries (maybe elsewhere too) have played in increasing (maintaining anyway) and supporting child count of families.
For example in my home country most of families with 5+ children are either cases of remarrying with bonus children, or followers of certain (usually Christian) disciplines. Furthermore many church related organizations provide assistance that makes raising children a little bit easier.
I would speculate that if not for religious activities, birth rates in western countries would have dropped much sooner and faster.
In this context, what China has to offer in place of religions, is in my opinion perhaps not sufficient to create equal factor to increase/maintain birth count.
@Mario007:
It looks particularly backward considering that according to latest official data, Yunnan has more foreign residents than Shanghai and Beijing combined.
About same as from a prayer to a revolution?
No results found.
Update: Officials fired after school stampede kills six
发布者In extreme poverty, people will even limit survival to that of their own person.
This has been reported, for example, from DPRK prison camps with family members turning on each other to survive.
In today's China you cannot make this comparison to DPRK, but China's history has left its marks in people's behavior today.
Update: Officials fired after school stampede kills six
发布者The staff of the school, from the top to the janitor, was trying to increase their profits by not implementing proper storage for the sleeping mattresses.
Update: Officials fired after school stampede kills six
发布者If I interpret Mike correctly, he is referring to general attitude of average Chinese person toward other human beings, nature, and generally everything other than himself and his immediate family.
For long time China was poor country, and it still reflects in many parts of the society. One is, that average Chinese will always put his own survival and benefit first.