中國家庭一向尊老愛幼。在大家庭里，老一輩人的意見受到尊重，小一輩的人得到全家的愛護(hù)。中國憲法規(guī)定贍養(yǎng)父母是成年子女義不容辭的責(zé)任。在城市里，不和家里老人一起住的年輕夫婦給老人生活費(fèi)并幫助他們干家務(wù)活兒。在農(nóng)村，盡管大家庭解體了，許多結(jié)了婚的兒子和他的家人還和父母住在同一個(gè)院子里。對(duì)他們來說，分家不過是分灶而已。結(jié)了婚的兒子往往把房子蓋在父母家附近，這樣父母和子女互相幫助、探望都和過去一樣方便。
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.