China will aggressively develop support services for home care
for the elderly over the next three years, given that those above
60 account for more than 11 percent of the 1.3 billion
population.
All urban communities would be required to offer care services
for the aged by the end of 2010 under a work plan released on
Thursday by 10 government departments, including the China National
Committee on Aging (CNCA) and the National Development and Reform
Commission.
About 80 percent of rural towns are to establish comprehensive
service centers for the aged and a third of villages should set up
structures that would allow the aged to access home care, the plan
said.
"The different requirements were based on different economic and
social conditions in urban and rural areas," said CNCA Executive
Deputy Director Li Bengong.
China faces an increasing social security burden with the rapid
growth of the aged. There are more than 149 million Chinese aged 60
or older, of whom only 6 to 8 percent are willing to enter
retirement homes, according to a CNCA report.
CNCA Deputy Director Yan Qingchun said "the number of the aged
who cannot live by themselves has seen a big increase in recent
years."
Among the 38.56 million elderly urban residents, 14.6 percent,
or 5.64 million people as of 2006, cannot live independent and need
care. There were only 4.14 million such residents in 2000.
Traditionally, most elderly Chinese lived with their children
after retirement. But in recent years, the numbers of empty nesters
in cities and rural areas has increased.
The CNCA report revealed nearly half, or 49.7 percent, of
elderly persons in urban areas lived in empty-nest households in
2006, while 50.3 percent stayed with relatives. In rural areas,
38.3 percent of elderly lived alone, while 61.7 percent resided
with relatives.
According to the report, more than 85 percent of the elderly
would like to live independently in their own homes after
retirement, thus testing the country's ability to provide adequate
social insurance and medical services for them.
The aged in urban areas have demanded various forms of care
service, such as housecleaning and nursing, as well as having
partners to chat with, Yan said.
"Such demand has boosted a thriving service industry," he
said.
The potential market value of the care service for the aged in
urban areas has exceeded 70 billion yuan (about 9.78 billion U.S.
dollars). It is forecast to reach 130 billion yuan in 2010 and
exceed 500 billion yuan in 2020.
(Xinhua News Agency February 22, 2008)