China becoming an elderly society
China is rapidly becoming a “hyper-aged society” and in the next three decades, more than 30% of its population will be above the age of 60, a report said on Saturday.
In real terms, more than 300 million Chinese are expected to be “senile” in the next 20 years, it added.
The term “hyper-aged society” was coined by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for countries with 20% of the population above the age of 65.
As life expectancy rises in China, it also means that the children of the elderly will have to spend more time and money to look after their parents, possibly for 20 years or more.
Ning Xiangdong, from the School of Economics and Management at Tsinghua University predicted a grim picture in a report published by the government website china.org.cn.
“According to Ning, in 20 years, the potentially senile population in China will hit 300 million, indicating couples who reach their late 50s at that time will spend substantial time on nursing both their parental and offspring's families for a period of 20 years,” the report said.
According to Chinese state media, the country had more than 230.8 million people aged 60 or above at the end of 2016, 16.7 percent of the total population,.
China’s state council, or the cabinet, released a report earlier this year that said the country’s senior population — those aged 60 and above — is expected to reach 255 million by 2020.
The numbers are staggering but China is planning to introduce incentives for the young to look after the elderly.
Six provinces, for example, have local enacted laws to “take 10 to 20 days off from their duties to encourage them to return home, reunite with their parents and take care of them.
BEIJING: