Posted By James Flanagan
From :
24% of Chinese mothers gave hongbao (red envelopes with money) to doctors before they delivered children to ensure that they receive better care during birth, a survey showed.
The envelopes contained an average of about 620 yuan (S$132), according to the random sampling survey released on Tuesday.
The survey interviewed 1,227 pregnant women and mothers with children aged 1 to 6 years old in cities nationwide.
[...] “Mothers give the money in the hope of having a smooth and painless delivery,” she said.
[...] But now the gifts to doctors often come before the birth.
[...] Qin Jiong, professor with the department of pediatrics from No 1 Hospital of Peking University, [...] doubted the survey’s credibility. “The sample size – 1,227 women – was far from enough to make a scientific survey,” she said.
The survey was conducted by domestic child rearing website Babytree.com and technically supported by market intelligence solutions provider Global Market Insite Inc (GMI).
The research also found that Chinese parents on average spend about 20 per cent of their monthly income on the child.
How do you reverse the process of something that has been institutionalized?
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Hi James, thanks for pointing this out…I often ask myself the same question here in our part of the world, where a “tip for good service” is often the (expected) norm amongst doctors from patients
China is in the best position of all the advanced economies to issue a far-ranging diktat that would fundamentally change the way gratuities are handed out to doctors. Perhaps better than any of the G8, so I’m hopeful what has previously been customary can be radically changed in no time flat. Do you or DD know of any off-Zhonghanhai NGOs in China clamoring for this sort of thing?