China struggles to care for ageing population after decades of one-child policy

It’s a typical weekday morning in this Beijing park, which means the pensioners are out in force. The retirement age here is among the lowest in the world. It can be as early as 50 for women and sixty for men. The most fortunate have many years ahead to pursue their hobbies. I’m 70 this year. It’s been 10 years since I retired. I recently got this French horn by happenstance. As you can see, we content and we have a leisurely lifestyle which makes young people envious, am I right? But the same can’t be said for those with a small pension, especially if they look after an unwell senior themselves. 55 year old Huang yen grew up in this house in southwest China. She lives here with her husband and her elderly mother. The three retirees get by on €600 a month. I learned about this bean sorting game on the Internet. They say it’s good for her. Mao Jing Xu is one of 10 million people in China with Alzheimer’s disease. The couple hopes this game will help improve her memory. Today though, the 86 year old prefers singing revolutionary songs from her childhood. Three years ago, the couple stopped selling crafts to become full time carers for Mrs. Mao. These days she’s been quite difficult. She makes noise all night long, so we can’t sleep well. Then I get dizzy. The world starts spinning. There’s not one day I can rest properly. I actually fainted recently, despite the daily challenges, the family has found that singing helps with communication. I’ll sing this for her mom. Listen, this is a good one. My mother’s touched, though. It’s Mrs. Huang and her husband who take on the lion’s share of caregiving. Her two sisters also pitch in when they can. Grandma, I’m back to see you. But when Mrs. Huang will grow old, she’ll have to rely on her only child. What my mom and dad do every day is not something every child can do. Honestly, it’s not easy. China’s one child policy created a generation without siblings, and though it ended in 2016, the birth rate continues to plummet, changing traditional household structures. If before 4 generations lived under one roof, now some 150 million Chinese seniors do not cohabit with their children, and tech groups have taken advantage of the phenomenon. This is our SOS call button. The ALDI can wear it when they go out and their children can check their real time location. This company wants to link its gadgets to a computer system that notifies not only family members but also local community centres. When we cooperate with local governments, we need to use our expertise, data and technology in order to obtain more policy support, because this is a new field, a futuristic vision that has yet to materialise on a mass scale. For now, something like this companion robot is more common. Gadgets promise to help people stay longer in their own homes, but for some, professional care might become a necessity. This is a private facility in Beijing. A shared room costs €780 a month. That’s more than half the median salary in the capital. In China, nursing homes are considered to be one of two extremes, luxurious and unaffordable or shabby and unsafe. According to this researcher in public policy, the lack of qualified care workers is also a key issue. But for her the real problem is structural. So Chinese government need to hurry up in this area. And we also done some research so that if China increases time age to 65 years old for both men and women, then it we will not only boost the economic growth and also we ease maybe reduce the burden for the pension fund. China’s state pension fund is drying up, putting more pressure on individuals to rely on private initiatives for low income pensioners. Elderly canteens offer subsidised ready made meals at around €2.00 each. All our dishes have less oil, less salt and less fat. As we must consider the health of the seniors. The speed at which the elderly population is growing has set off alarm bells. By 2050, the proportion of seniors in Chinese society is set to double, reaching 38%. China risks becoming old before becoming rich.