China is facing a major challenge with the rapidly growing number of elderly in the country, reports the China Daily: “About 7 per cent of China’s population is currently 65 or over. But a recent Chinese Academy of Social Sciences report predicts this will rise to 14 per cent within two to three decades… The grey wave will pose severe challenges to social development. The smaller work force will have to shoulder more of a burden to provide pensions for the elderly. The number of pensioners in China is rising by 3 million a year, and as a result, the ratio of social security payers to pensioners has risen from 10:1 in the 1990s to the current 3:1, according to Liu Yongfu, vice-minister of labour and social security. ” The full report is here.
Plans afoot to help ageing China
Posted by Sophie Beach | Oct 28, 2004
