ABSTRACT
The traditional Chinese family is headed by the father and there is a hierarchy in family relationships. As China transformed from an agrarian into an industrialized society, the Chinese family underwent important changes, especially with family planning and the one-child policy. The flow of wealth in the contemporary family represents a break from the movement of wealth in the traditional family. Current social policies have exposed certain problems which reflect the imbalance in intergenerational flows of wealth within the family. Macro- and micro-level FBCs are tools for making family-based social policies. Family burden and family members’ make-up represent two different sets of standards; social policies have more depth when they take these standards into consideration. The family healthcare burden increases with age since people are more prone to illness as they age.
