随着亚洲人口结构的加速转变，各国政府正越来越多地将赡养义务写入法律，以打击日益严重的虐待和遗弃老人行为。今年3月，印度特伦甘纳邦通过了一项法案，允许在成年子女被发现疏于照顾父母时，将其薪资的至多15%直接划拨到父母的账户中。类似的措施在其他地区也受到了关注：新加坡于1995年率先采取了这一做法，马来西亚正推进世俗和伊斯兰教法的相关法案以保护老年人，而菲律宾则提议了一项《父母福利法案》，对疏于履行赡养义务者处以至多十年的监禁。中国也对未能“经常”探望父母或提供赡养费的子女进行处罚，包括在上海将违规者列入信用黑名单。
这一立法推动反映出亚洲迅速老龄化的人口缺乏足够的公共基础设施支撑，且老龄化速度往往快于其经济积累财富以应对这一转变的速度。目前，约有7.22亿人（占亚洲人口的15%）年龄在60岁以上，预计到2050年这一比例将升至26%。由此给年轻一代带来的压力十分沉重；一项调查显示，49%的泰国千禧一代和31%的印尼千禧一代因承担照顾父母的职责而无法搬离家庭住宅。在拥有3600万人口的马来西亚，仅有18家持牌养老院和大约70名老年病科医生，这导致该国医院在2018至2022年间记录了2,144起被遗弃老年患者的案例。
尽管在历史上孝道曾扮演着非正式退休计划的角色，即子女的工资会流向父母，但城市化已瓦解了这一社会契约。流动的青年面临着包括抵押贷款和育儿在内的沉重财务负担，这使得对子女提供赡养的期望变得越来越不切实际。批评者指出，政府不应惩罚未尽孝的子女，而应投资于社会保障网、日间照料和临终关怀设施。在中国，独生子女政策导致单个子女需要照顾多位年迈的亲属，国家强制要求子女“经常”探望父母的规定引发了公众的强烈抵触，突显了用法律惩罚取代社会政策的局限性。
As demographic shifts accelerate across Asia, governments are increasingly codifying filial obligation into law to combat rising elder abuse and abandonment. In March, Telangana state in India enacted a bill allowing up to 15% of an adult child's salary to be directly transferred to neglected parents. Similar measures are gaining traction elsewhere: Singapore pioneered this approach in 1995, Malaysia is advancing secular and sharia bills to protect the elderly, and the Philippines has proposed a Parents Welfare Act prescribing up to ten years in prison for neglect. China also penalizes children who fail to visit parents or provide maintenance, including placing offenders on credit blacklists in Shanghai.
The legislative push reflects a critical shortage of public infrastructure to support Asia's rapidly aging population, which is growing older before its economies are wealthy enough to manage the transition. Currently, around 722 million people—representing 15% of Asia’s population—are over 60, a proportion projected to rise to 26% by 2050. The resulting pressure on younger generations is severe; a survey shows that 49% of Thai millennials and 31% of Indonesian millennials cannot leave their family homes due to parental caregiving duties. In Malaysia, a nation of 36 million, there are only 18 licensed nursing homes and roughly 70 geriatricians, leaving hospitals to deal with 2,144 cases of abandoned elderly patients between 2018 and 2022.
While filial piety historically served as an informal retirement plan where wages flowed to parents, urbanization has shattered this social compact. Migrant youth face heavy financial burdens, including mortgages and child care, rendering expectations of filial provision increasingly unrealistic. Critics argue that instead of penalizing children, governments should invest in social safety nets, daycare, and end-of-life facilities. In China, where the one-child policy has left a single offspring to care for multiple aging relatives, the state's mandate for children to visit parents "often" has sparked public backlash, highlighting the limitations of substituting social policy with legal punishment.
Source: Asian governments are making children care for their parents
Subtitle: As populations age, the elderly are being neglected
Dateline: 6月 25, 2026 07:01 上午 | SINGAPORE