通过对河北省保定市郊区农村的深入访谈和问卷调查,本文研究了有两个以上已婚儿子的老年夫妻去世前的生活状况。研究发现,儿子成年之后的独立门户,是这类老年夫妇“空巢”的前提,而“空巢”又是“轮养”契约得以建立的条件。市场化、社会结构转型、儿媳妇在家庭决策中作用的增强等,使老年人失去了家庭决策权。故“轮养”在生命过程中,实际是被安排的结果,而不是老年父母自己的选择。 Through in-depth interviews and questionnaires in the rural areas of Baoding, Hebei Province, this paper studies the living conditions of the elderly couples with more than two married sons before their death. The study found that the independent portal of a son after his adulthood is the prerequisite for such an elderly couple “empty nest”, and “empty nest” is the condition for the establishment of a “rearing” contract. Market-oriented, social restructuring, and the increasing role of daughters-in-law in family decision-making have made older people lose the right to family decision-making. Therefore, “wheeling ” in the process of life, is actually the result of arrangements, rather than older parents own choice.