Hot words: Care services for children and the elderly
China will focus on developing inclusive, fair, safe and reliable community aged and child care services based on the good experience in some regions, Premier Li Keqiang said in response to a journalist's question on improving people's livelihoods at a news conference on Friday after the two sessions closed.
Li pointed out that China's aged population above 60 years old is about 250 million, and there are more than 100 million children under 6 years old. Elderly care and child care services involve a majority of families in society, and the demand exceeds supply.
After the family planning policy was changed to allow all the couples to have two children, the demand for child care services has increased further. And for every 100 elderly people there are only three beds in nursing institutions on average.
According to Li, the development of care services for children and the aged requires the participation of social organizations, private investors as well as further government support.
For instance, the government may provide public rental housing units for free to private operators to use as old age facilities for providing assisted meals, assisted mobility, day care, rehabilitation, and even open colleges for senior citizens.
And the government may also provide tax exemptions or tax-free policies for these service providers in terms of their expenses for water, electricity and natural gas, he added.