Chinanews, Beijing, December 17 – Nowadays, most of the senior citizens in China are supported by or live with their children, especially those in rural areas. However, a recent survey reveals that 20% of senior Chinese wish to move into homes for the aged, despite the fact that such homes in China are sufficient to benefit only 0.86% of the aged population.

 

At present, China has an aged population of 149 million, taking up 21.4% of the global total, and it's also the largest aged population group in the world. In the early 1990s, every 10 young people supported a senior citizen in average, but now every 3 young people have to support one senior citizen. In the foreseeable future, every young couple will have to support 4 senior citizens and 1 kid at the same time. It is not reasonable to rely on family members to care for the aged any more.

 

In the early 2006, there were 39,500 old age homes in China, with 1.49-million-plus beds available, 29,680 of which were in rural areas. The number of such homes has increased greatly so far, but still not enough.

 

According to the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the community-based old age care mode will be encouraged, as “empty-nest families” have become common phenomena today, and such oldage-care mode requires the joint effort of family, government and NGO.