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防老

English translation: insurance against old age

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GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)

Chinese term or phrase:	防老
English translation:	insurance against old age

Options:
- Contribute to this entry
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10:31 Jul 18, 2011

The asker opted for community grading. The question was closed on 2011-07-22 01:54:14 based on peer agreement (or, if there were too few peer comments, asker preference.)

Chinese to English translations [PRO]
Social Sciences - Other

Chinese term or phrase: 防老

在中国社会里，生孩子是用来防老的

please I need it to sound natural in the English language. Thank you.

karrol KudoZ activity Questions: 224 (4 open) (7 closed without grading) Answers: 69
Local time: 04:47

insurance against old age

Explanation:
Another possibility:

In China, having children is a form of insurance against old age.

Selected response from:

Phil Hand
China
Local time: 04:47

Grading comment

Thank you, and thanks to others as well.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

4 +5

insurance against old age

Phil Hand

4 +1

Prepare for old age

Siang Yu Tham

to support the elderly

Sherwin Zhou

obtain security for the silver age

lin_vmi

support oneself in one's old age

Neyle

Answers

9 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

Prepare for old age

Explanation:
In China's society, having children is to prepare for old age.

Siang Yu Tham
Local time: 04:47
Native speaker of:

English,

Chinese

5 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +5

insurance against old age

Explanation:
Another possibility:

In China, having children is a form of insurance against old age.

Phil Hand
China
Local time: 04:47
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 44

Grading comment

Thank you, and thanks to others as well.

5 hrs confidence:

obtain security for the silver age

Explanation:
In the Chinese society, giving birth is considered a way to obtain security especially when one reaches the silver age.

lin_vmi
Native speaker of:

Chinese,

English

5 hrs confidence:

support oneself in one's old age

Explanation:
防老：
防备年老时供养无着：～钱ㄧ养儿～。
http://www.zdic.net/cd/ci//6/ZdicE9Zdic98ZdicB265702.htm

Neyle
Local time: 04:47
Native speaker of:

Chinese

4 hrs confidence:

to support the elderly

Explanation:
防老： to support the elderly;
生孩子是用来防老的: Giving birth to and nourishing a child is to support the elderly (or to support the aged parents)

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Note added at 14小时 (2011-07-19 00:58:24 GMT)
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Note："防老" is a traditional idea in China's society, espcially in the old times. In the past, Chinese poeple especially the common people enjoyed no social security to live in comfort in their old age. The only way for them was to have a son and hoped that the son would take care of them and brought them a peaceful life to spend their final years.So usually "防老" specificly means "养儿防老". Why is it not "养女防老"? That's because traditionally after the daughter got married, she would live in her husband home, either nearby or faraway, leaving her old parents living lonely and no person to rely on. Though nowadays things have changed a lot, for example, most of the chinese poeple enjoy a good social security system when they are aged and the daughter can stay and live with their parents with her husband(in Chinese, referred to as 入赘）， the traditional idea of "防老" is kept. However, one thing we should pay more attention to is that "防老" does not mean "protect one from aging" or "protect one from becoming old".

Sherwin Zhou
China
Local time: 04:47
Native speaker of:

Chinese
PRO pts in category: 8

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防老

English translation: insurance against old age

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English translation: insurance against old age

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