February 21, 2008
China will aggressively develop support services for home care for the elderly over the next three years, given that those above 60 account for more than 11 percent of the 1.3 billion population.All urban communities would be required to offer care services for the aged by the end of 2010 under a work plan released on Thursday by 10 government departments, including the China National Committee on Aging (CNCA) and the National Development and Reform Commission.
Traditionally, most elderly Chinese lived with their children after retirement. But in recent years, the numbers of empty nesters in cities and rural areas has increased.
The CNCA report revealed nearly half, or 49.7 percent, of elderly persons in urban areas lived in empty-nest households in 2006, while 50.3 percent stayed with relatives. In rural areas, 38.3 percent of elderly lived alone, while 61.7 percent resided with relatives.
The potential market value of the care service for the aged in urban areas has exceeded 70 billion yuan (about 9.78 billion U.S. dollars). It is forecast to reach 130 billion yuan in 2010 and exceed 500 billion yuan in 2020.
Abridged SOURCE: peopledaily
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