China's technology revolution is leaving its senior citizens behind
Zhang Zhixia is sitting in a black metal chair, flipping through handouts about telecom fraud prevention with her reading glasses on. She is back in class after leaving school almost five decades ago. The 62-year-old former Beijing kindergarten teacher is all ears. She is determined not to be left behind by China's technology revolution. In Zhang's lifetime, China has gone from an economic backwater to one of the world's largest economies, with a population that has, for a large part, embraced the rapid pace of technological change. There are already 890 million users of mobile phone payment apps across China, for example. In urban China, many people have gone almost completely cashless, at a faster pace than many more advanced economies. Everything from coffees to cars can be purchased with a simple tap on the mobile screen. But that has left some elderly people feeling left behind. Every week, Zhang attends "cell phone classes" run by a volunteer group, See Young, in Panzhuang, an area of Soviet-style residential compounds in northwestern Beijing. "I'm so eager to learn," Zhang says. "I signed up to the class immediately and came with my phone charged to its fullest to be prepared." While Zhang has made big progress in mastering her Xiaomi phone, she says she still pays her hospital bills with a big wad of bank notes. "I'm so jealous of other people. They pay with a simple scan but I . . . . . read more on CNN
Unable to rely on their children, China's aging elite live in community luxury
At a gated community for senior citizens on the outskirts of Beijing, retired military personnel, film-makers and top university professors settle into a new routine: ballet lessons, weightlifting and catered dining. As China’s population ages rapidly, and with parents having only a single child to help them in their old age, the upper crust are spending their last years in community luxury. A grand piano backlit by floor-to-ceiling windows stands in the Yanyuan community’s clubhouse living room. Brightly colored artworks commissioned from Israeli artist David Gerstein adorn public spaces. “This is our home now,” said Li Ying, a 71-year-old resident who spent more than 30 years in the military. “Special circumstances notwithstanding, we are prepared to live here until the end.” Though high-end institutions like Yanyuan, which boasts an on-site hospital and on-call staff, are still few, they are part of a growing industry as the country races to develop enough elderly care support for its exploding population of senior citizens. By 2050, 1 in 3 people in China — 487 million people — will be over the age of 60, according to the official Xinhua news agency, more than the entire population of the United States. In the past, parents could count on their children for care in their twilight years under traditions of filial piety. But as China reckons with its one-child policy, which was aimed at curbing population growth, couples are now burdened with raising their own children while supporting both sets of parents — without the help of siblings. “The idea that children should take care of their aging parents is an old logic spanning thousands of years,” explained Li. “As society develops, this is changing.” To tackle the country’s looming aging crisis, the Chinese government is trialing a number of policies, including preferential tax policies for providers of elderly care services. The push to grow China’s elderly care capacity has encouraged more private companies, from real estate developers to insurance firms, to seize on business opportunities in the industry, such as nursing homes where residents enjoy five-star accommodations and professional medical support. At Yanyuan, which is run by the insurance giant Taikang, residents can . . . . . read more in The Japan Times
Mahjong en een dansje in de Chinese ouderenvilla
Ook in China slaat de vergrijzing razendsnel toe, terwijl er toch al een enorm tekort aan ouderenzorg is. Steeds meer Chinese senioren regelen zelf iets, bijvoorbeeld in een ‘villa-annex-bejaardenhome', die nu landelijk aandacht trekt. Acht slaapkamers telt het huis van Zhu Ronglin (79), een modernistische villa op het platteland, in de buitenrand van de Chinese stad Hangzhou. Voor hemzelf en zijn vrouw, zo was de bedoeling, en voor zijn twee kinderen en hun beide gezinnen – drie generaties onder één dak, zoals de Chinese traditie het wil. Maar toen trokken zijn kinderen naar de stad, dichter bij werk en scholen, en zaten Zhu en zijn vrouw ineens alleen. In een groot en leeg huis, met zeven slaapkamers te veel.
Vandaag is van die leegte niets meer te merken; het huis met al zijn kamers is weer gevuld. In de keuken haalt een kok in hoog tempo zes verschillende gerechten door de wok, terwijl de 71-jarige Wang Hehua, die vandaag corvee heeft, de eettafel dekt. De 68-jarige Jiang Yichun schenkt de theethermos-flessen bij, terwijl de 76-jarige Wang Jiabao de borrelglaasjes pakt. De gepensioneerden kletsen gezellig door elkaar, in lokaal dialect. De villa van Zhu Ronglin is tegenwoordig het toneel van een experiment in de Chinese ouderenzorg: een coöperatieve woongroep voor senioren. Na enkele eenzame jaren besloten Zhu en zijn vrouw Wang Guifen in 2017 hun overmaatse huis voor andere gepensioneerden open te stellen. Ze plaatsten een zoekertje online en in de krant en kregen meer dan honderd reacties. Nu wonen ze met zijn twaalven in de villa, vier echtparen en vier alleenstaanden, allen zestigers en zeventigers. De senioren eten samen, spelen samen mahjong en maken ’s avonds samen een wandeling of doen een dansje. Ze hebben een kok, een poetsvrouw en een tuinman, die zorgt voor verse aanvoer uit de moestuin, boomgaard of eenden- en kippenren. Iedereen heeft één dag per week dienst om inkopen te doen en op te ruimen. De inwoners betalen een bescheiden huur – honderdvijftig tot tweehonderd euro – en verdelen de onkosten. In een tabel houden ze bij hoeveel maaltijden ze namen. “Het is hier veel beter dan in een bejaardentehuis”, zegt Jiang Yichun (68) . . . . . . lees meer in Trouw
Ouderenvilla Hangzhou: vlnr. Wang Jiabao, Wang Guifen, Wang Hehua, Zhu Ronglin © Leen Vervaeke
China’s Aging Population Is a Major Threat to Its Future
A passing typhoon has just tickled southern China’s Hainan Island, churning the sea into angry peaks. One glance is enough for Li An Xiao and Zhao Zhi Ping to cancel their customary 7 a.m. swim, the kind of unspoken agreement that comes with half a century of happy marriage. Instead, they join dozens of other retirees performing calisthenics at the adjacent exercise park, where one silver-haired gent nonchalantly hangs upside down from the monkey bars. Li was once a hydro-engineer in China’s arid northwestern province of Gansu. Today, the 85-year-old is enjoying a leisurely retirement with Zhao, 75, on the volcanic island that is Asia’s closest equivalent to Florida. Lunch at noon, a 3 p.m. dip in their apartment complex’s hot tub, perhaps a nap and, typhoon permitting, back to the beach for a sunset swim. “We love it here,” he says. “Just look at all the trees and flowers! The sea air means we’ve never felt healthier.” An estimated 1.5 million retired snowbirds flock to Hainan from China’s frigid northern provinces every winter, and if current trends continue, the migratory pattern is set to expand rapidly. By 2050, 330 million Chinese will be over age 65. Good news perhaps for property owners in Hainan, but dire news for the prospects of the world’s second largest economy–and for those around the world who rely on it. “It’s the No. 1 economic problem for China going forward,” says . . . . . . read more here in Time.
Photo - Sim Chi Yin
China steps up efforts to broaden elderly care market
The potential of China’s elderly care market, worth ¥10trn (about £1.15trn) is expected to be unlocked as a growing number of relevant policies are put in place. More concrete measures will be taken in 2019 to encourage the banking and financial sectors to get involved in the market, Economic Information Daily reported on 19 December. By the end of 2017, the number of people in China over the age of 60 was more than 241 million, accounting for 17.3 per cent of the country’s population, according to statistics released by the China National Committee on Ageing. More data from CIConsulting shows that 84 per cent of the current market needs have not yet been met. Despite this, it is estimated the market will exceed ¥11trn by next year. China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs, aiming to tap market resources fully, listed the reform of streamlining the administration of elderly care institutions and public-private partnership (PPP) projects as one of its 10 priorities on 1 February 2018. On 18 July, the Standing Committee of the State Council decided to streamline approval for elderly care institutions, aiding future development. The move intends to mobilise private funds and reduce the costs associated with joining the sector. Driven by national supporting policies, businesses from banking and financial sectors have geared up to seize their share of the market. Three pension target funds under Yinhua Fund Management, Fullgoal Fund and Wanjia Asset were established on 14 December, attracting more than 200,000 active subscribers worth a total of ¥1.3bn. A former company executive called Fu said . . . . . . . read more in The TelegraphIsolated and abandoned: the heartbreaking reality of old age in rural China
For Qin Taixiao, old age is a time of loneliness and back-breaking labor. Every day in winter, the ailing 68-year-old wakes early, collects 50 kilograms (110 pounds) of firewood from the nearby forest, and hauls it home on his back. He does it again in the afternoon. Burning wood instead of coal is a cheaper way to stave off the freezing temperatures of the northern Chinese winter. Qin and his wife, Sun Sherong, have spent the past year almost entirely alone. They live in an isolated and largely abandoned village about 240 kilometers (150 miles) from Beijing. Between his trips to the forest, Qin manages his emphysema and colon cancer with the meager amounts of drugs he can afford. "What can I say?" he says. "Life's all right. There is no other way." His steely stoicism fades only when talking about his favorite time of the year -- the Lunar New Year. The week-long holiday is the only time he sees his three children. Like many others, Qin's children left the village years ago to find work, joining the relentless current of China's great urban migration spurred by its economic boom. Hundreds of millions have moved to cities in recent decades, leaving behind empty villages. Qin's problems are typical of those facing millions of families. China's population is aging extremely quickly, and many elderly people aren't sure if the country or their children will be able to support them. By 2050, more than 34% of China's citizens are projected to be more than 60 years old, according to the country's National Working Commission. That will amount to almost 500 million people, nearly twice as many as today. The nationwide effects of a decline in the working-age population could be drastic and wide-ranging. Experts have long warned China could "get old before getting rich"as the aging population becomes a drag on economic growth. And with fewer working people contributing to the government's coffers, the stress on Beijing's finances will become increasingly acute. "For the next few years, the number of elderly people will grow . . . . read more on CNN
Photo - CNN Nathalie Thomas
