The family around the world has witnessed changes as family size turned smaller, gray population increases, more people are prone to migrant and more households should face the threat of spread HIV/AIDS, said deputies here at the World Family Summit on Monday.

The family is shrinking as the traditional big households are replaced by nuclear families, said Dr. Deisi Kusztra, president of the World Family Organization.

Latest UN statistics show that the average family number in developed regions, east Asia, southeast Asia, the Caribbean region and North Africa is 2.8, 3.7, 4.9, 4.1 and 5.7 persons, respectively.

Lower reproductive rates, a bigger migrating population, higher divorce rates and more old people are believed to be behind the family shrinkage.

Lower reproductive rates and longer life expectancy also resulted in a bigger portion of aging population. The UN estimates put that by 2050, the global gray population, or those at 60 years old or above, will jump from the present 600 million to two billion, with the proportion in developed countries to reach 33 percent and that of developing nations to stand at 20 percent.

The increasing number of aged people has posed a special threat to China, said Jing Jun, professor with China's Qinghua University, as a lot of Chinese families depend on a single child to support the parents' old life in a country, where a sound social safety is yet to form.

Migration is another noteworthy phenomenon. UN statistics indicated that around 3 percent or 175 million people are living outside their native nations, but cultural, racial and religious differences have exerted great pressure on these migrants.

Economic motivation and rapid urbanization combined pushed forward such migration trend in some developed countries. Khalid Malik, UN Resident Coordinator in China, said in China alone, around 120 to 140 million people have migrated from rural to urban areas, which has affected 240 to 280 million people who are their direct relatives.

Such a large scale migration will definitely bring benefits and losses to such special group, said an expert, so the impact of the movement on their families deserved serious study.

In addition, the spread of the HIV/AIDS epidemic has left 42 million infected with the virus in the world and the number is still on rise. "Families can play its part for the prevention and curbing of AIDS," said Jing Jun, who will address the summit from sociological perspective on the issue.

Over 300 deputies from China and abroad attended the three-day summit to jointly review and assess the achievements and experiences of the international year of the family over the past 10 years and hold discussions on how to improve family life while facilitating social progress.

Source: Xinhua