Parents Can Refuse to Support Adult Children, Court Says

China’s Supreme People’s Court upheld a ruling that parents can legally refuse to support their adult children, especially if it threatens their own financial stability. According to the case released in February, the Yangs had been supporting their son who had a gambling addiction, and sold one of their three apartments to help pay off his debts. Following conflicts between them, the parents told their son to move out. Yang refused, arguing that he has lived in the home since childhood and had the right to continue to live there. The lower court that tried the case ruled that parents are not obligated under Chinese law to financially support able-minded adult children. With China’s competitive job market and high housing prices, more adult children are relying on parents for support and called the pejorative term kenlaozu (the “living off parents” tribe).