The well-being of bereaved parents in an only-child society

There are currently around a million Chinese households where the only child has died and the mother is beyond reproductive age. The number of such bereaved parents, known as shidu fumu, is forecast to increase to over 11 million by 2050. Using a sample survey conducted in 2013 in Shaanxi Province, the article explores the vulnerability of shidu fumu by various measures of well-being. Such parents are more vulnerable than nonbereaved parents in every respect. There are also significant differences in well-being between shidu fumu due to parental characteristics. We argue that policies supporting shidu fumu should be strengthened.