Ananth Krishnan October 7, 2012
THE SUNDAY STORY For a country that has relied on a youthful labour force to
drive growth over the past three decades, a rapidly aging population presents
both short-term and long-term challenges
At the end of 2011, there were 123
million Chinese who were above the age of 65.
By 2050, the Chinese government
estimates, that number will rise to 323 million. One in every four Chinese will
then be 65-plus.
For a country that has relied on a
youthful labour force to drive growth over the past three decades, a rapidly
aging population presents both short-term and long-term challenges, Chinese
demographers say.
The government has embarked on a
three-step programme to tackle what social scientists have described as a
“grave” aging crisis. This involves short-term measures, such as boosting
investment in health care for the elderly, and shoring up the pension system.
Then, there are more complicated long-term policy changes that are still mired
in debates, including loosening up the controversial “one-child policy” and
transforming a labour-driven economy.
At the heart of China’s aging
challenge is what social scientists have neatly summed up as the “421 problem.”
A legacy of family planning rules put in place in the 1970s, the number refers
to the burdens faced by the current generation of one-child Chinese families,
where one grandchild is tasked with the welfare of two parents and four
grandparents.
Wang Xiaoyan, who heads the NGO
Community Alliance, says the problem has led to a growing deficit in care for
the aged. Surveys carried out by her NGO have found an alarming shortage of
beds in homes that care for the elderly. Ms. Wang estimates a shortage of more
than five million beds. This is twice the current supply of 2.5 million.
As traditional notions of filial
piety erode, Ms. Wang and others have expressed concern at growing neglect of
the elderly, prompting new legislation and campaigns aimed to increase
sensitivity.
This year, the government added an
amendment to the well-intentioned, but largely ineffectual, Law on Protection
of Rights and Interests of the Aged. It was passed in 1997 but has been
enforced rarely. The amendment allows senior citizens who suffer from any
disability to choose a guardian from her or his relatives, who will be
responsible for care.
To encourage people to care for
older family members, the government has come out with an updated version of 24
Stories of Filial Piety, a Yuan Dynasty period work that reflects
traditional Confucian notions of piety.
It recounts stories of sacrifice by
children, such as the eight-year-old who gives up his body to spare his parents
from mosquito bites. Adapting them for modern times, the new text calls upon
children to spend holidays with their parents and arrange hospital visits:
simple steps that could go a long way.
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