REPORTEDLY, about 40 percent of the depression among the elderly nowadays is caused by the pressure of looking after grandchildren. China Youth Daily comments:

It is a long-standing tradition for retired grandparents to act as nannies for their grandchildren. Not only young parents assume that they will fulfill this task, most of the elderly consider it to be their duty.

Few couples will opt to employ baby sitters, even if they can afford to, because they are concerned about their children's safety since nannies are poorly trained and the agencies not well regulated.

As a result, many young couples take it for granted that their elderly parents will look after their children when they work. And most grandparents do assume this duty, which means they bear a heavy responsibility and have to devote huge amounts of their time and energy to child care.

Now that the family planning policy has been changed to allow all couples to have two children, more grandparents are being tasked with caring for a second baby, which has put even more pressure on them. Especially, when the elderly grandparents and their children do not live in the same city. The elderly of these families have to go to where their children live, often the grandmothers will leave the grandfathers to look after their grandkids, so not only do they have the pressure of child-care duties, they also have to adapt to a new living environment on their own.

However, none of the government's family planning documents or policies mention the issue of elderly child care.

With the implementation of the comprehensive two-child policy, the government needs to do more to improve the related support services. Before this unheeded concern is addressed, the fertility rate is unlikely to increase.