Many of China’s elderly rural residents, including farmers seen here in Bozhou, Anhui province, are forced to continue working long into retirement to earn a living, as pensions can be less than US$20 a month. Photo: Weibo
China’s ageing rural peasants labour into their twilight years as pensions ‘cover only oil and salt’
- The lack of support for elderly rural residents has become a worsening socio-economic problem for China amid its rapid urbanisation push
- Decades of aggressive family-planning measures mean one out of four residents in the countryside will be older than 60 by 2025
Many of China’s elderly rural residents, including farmers seen here in Bozhou, Anhui province, are forced to continue working long into retirement to earn a living, as pensions can be less than US$20 a month. Photo: Weibo