Lack of basic social security network places burden on families caring for elderly

Beijing native He Shuzhen , 84, is one of 9.4 million people who have been identified by the Ministry of Civil Affairs as too old to take care of themselves. She has no pension, no medical insurance and little in savings. Living in a nursing home on the eastern outskirts of the capital, she has to rely on her four elderly sons to cover her expenses, including fees of about 1,300 yuan (HK$1,470) a month. It is a substantial burden for her working-class family. He says she would rather live at home, but none of her sons can take her in, as they are either also too old to look after her or are already caring for their own families. 'I'm not saying they treat me badly by sending me here, but I do somehow feel I've been deserted,' she said. He is part of a rapidly ageing population on the mainland that has raised fears among demographers that the country might not be able to support its growing ranks of elderly citizens as it has yet to establish a basic social security network. China became an ageing country in the eyes of the United Nations in 2000, when the number of people aged over 60 exceeded 10 per cent of the population and those over 65 exceeded 7 per cent. Latest statistics from the Ministry of Civil Affairs shows that fewer than half of the country's elderly citizens have basic social security coverage and, therefore, most have no choice but to rely on their families. He said the government should do more to help people like her family and make more services for the elderly available. 'China is powerful and wealthy, isn't it?' she asked, rhetorically. A bus fire in Chengdu, Sichuan , in June in which 27 people were killed and 74 injured sounded an alarm over the state of China's social security for the elderly. Zhang Yunliang , a 62-year-old Jiangsu native, was widely scorned as the perpetrator of the deadly inferno, but little was said about his circumstances. Zhang had no pension and had apparently sought revenge after his daughter reduced his allowance. He had attempted to kill himself on many occasions before resorting to setting the bus ablaze. Professor Wu Cangping, of Renmin University's School of Sociology and Population Studies, said that unlike some Western countries with ageing populations, most elderly mainland folk were vulnerable financially, as well as in terms of inadequate health care and education. The majority of elderly on the mainland lived in the countryside with little access to social security because of the rural-urban dichotomy, Wu said. A 2006 nationwide survey commissioned by the China National Committee on Ageing found that more than two-thirds of the country's 146 million elderly citizens were living in the countryside. Zhang Yongmei, a 63-year-old farmer from Hanshan county in the eastern province of Anhui, has no pension and little in savings despite working on the family farm for decades. Zhang, who moved to Beijing several years ago to stay with her elder daughter because she was too old to work, said she was lucky to have the support of her children. 'Many farmers of my age in our village have to continue working on the land, and are even burdened with the care of grandchildren left behind by their city-bound parents until they are really, really old,' she said. Zhang added that she had no doubt her children would give her the best possible care they could afford. But she wished she could be less of a burden with some sort of pension, because none of her four children has social security, either, despite working in cities for years. 'What about them and what about my grandchildren when they get old? Are they going to end up like me?' she asked. Demographers predict that the ageing problem will continue to confound the mainland throughout much of the 21st century, as the elderly population is expected to peak at 438 million, or 28.7 per cent of the total population, in 2050. Professor Chen Yongchang, president of the Heilongjiang Vocational College of Industry and Commerce, said the fact that Chinese were living longer, combined with the effects of family planning policies introduced in the late 1970s, contributed to the growing ageing problem on the mainland. While the family planning policy, also known as the 'one-child policy', had effectively reduced the population by more than 300 million and, authorities said, greatly eased the demands on the ecosystem and other natural resources, 'on the flip side, it has the population growing older, and it could lead to a shortage of working-age people', Chen said. He cited what he calls the '4-2-1 family structure' - a couple has four parents to look after, but then their single child faces the prospect of providing for four parents and eight grandparents when he gets married. That is exactly what Li Yan and her husband, who are expecting their first child in February, are facing. The couple - both office workers in Qingdao , Shandong , with decent incomes - are supporting two parents who have already retired, and face supporting two more when they retire in a couple of years. Li said she found the prospect pretty daunting. 'I guess it's more than just about financial preparedness, but the amount of attention and time we'll have to give to our parents,' she said. Li said she hoped that by the time their parents had become quite advanced in years, the level of elderly care services such as nursing homes would be much improved and widely available. 'Our generation is going to face a situation no one has ever gone through,' she said. 'That's a bit frightening.'