Like many countries, China faces the demographic issue of an increasing aging population that is living longer. 11% of the Chinese population (153 million people) are age 60 or over, and this demographic is expected to increase to 248 million by 2020.
To promote services for pensioners, earlier this year the country set the goal of promoting care services for the elderly in all urban communities by 2010. In rural areas, 80 percent of townships will have at least one welfare center for retired persons… [Currently,] Special welfare care centers are still in short supply around the country. The number of beds they offer could accommodate only about 1.16 percent of current elderly population.
To help accommodate this growing population, local governments have built seniors’ housing, such as this one in Zhejiang Province.
China has been celebrating “Seniors Day” since 1989. China has also created a monthly “Centarian Allowance” for seniors over 100 years old.
Read also CDT’s past posts, such as China Expects Communities to Take More Care of Elderly People
(Image courtesy of www.photoeverywhere.co.uk)
