《Writing》Chenyd

4、Old-age Care

　　‘After I converted the hotel into a nursing home,many people said that there was something wrong with me.I insist despite this,because one day I will be aged too1.’
　　With the fast-ageing society on Earth,many new issues are springing up.One is the old-age care.
　　Not surprisingly,a graying population is one of the looming challenges for China as it speeds through the 21st century.A relevant data show that not only the percentage of young people in China is shrinking,but also the work force that has powered the Chinese economy in recent decades is lessening as well.Even though the government has recently loosened its one-child policy,surveys suggest that young urban families,facing high rents and concerns about college costs,have little interest in rearing more than one or two children.
　　All that poses questions for the government:Can they keep the nation’s economic engine running without a large pool of low-paid workersHow will it pay for health care and living costs of hundreds of millions of people who will enter their golden years in the decades ahead
　　According to the United Nations figures,nearly 200 million Chinese are now over age 60.Roughly half are ‘empty nest’ parents living alone in rural areas.In the next 15 years,nearly one in four Chinese,which represents more than 320 million people,will be 60 and older,including tens of millions of disabled seniors.
　　In the past,Chinese elders could be assured that,when they were frail and no longer able to work,their children would look after them. Just as the old saying says, ‘don’t stray far away when parents are in home’. The clans,which means nearly all the family members ought to live together,make sure that the elderly would be took care of properly. But because of the government’s one-child policy and the migration of young people to urban jobs,China’s traditional system of elder care has been shredded.These days old people in their homes are often not getting checks from their own children.It is a very gloomy picture.
　　And in 2013,the government even felt compelled to pass a law,Protection of the Rights and Interests of Elderly People,that spelled out the obligations of young offspring.
　　The most severe thing is that unlike most industrialized countries,China doesn’t have an insurance safety net like Medicare,a medical cover furnished people over 65 by American Government,to provide medical treatment for seniors.Nor does it have anywhere near enough nursing home beds to ensure care for the seriously infirm.
　　As matters stand,the overcrowded high-level sanatoriums for the elderly,especially the state-run ones,tends to be a commom phenomenon,which mostly occur in urban areas. High-end assisted-care facilities are in extremely short supply,largely happen in first-tier cities. The nation currently has about 4 million nursing home spots.There are approximately 30 million Chinese age 80 or older.
　　In comparision with the overheated pursuit of high-ranking urban rest homes,rural ones are frequently empty.The concrete data last year demonstrated that the occupation rate of assisted-living facilities in Zhejiang was only about 66% while Chinese state media reported that there could be a 100-year wait to get into Beijing’s top-ranked geracomium,as some 10000 applicants were waiting for 1100 available beds.
　　Why dose it happenUndoubtedly,nursing homes having comparative advantages such as convenient traffic and concentrated medical resources are far more highly competitive than the rest.On top of numerous needs,low price and high reliance lead to the tremendous lack of public old-age care facilities.One insider points out that living conditions of rural vest homes are relatively poor and as a consequence,many aged people are not willing to move into.
　　Millions of Chinese youngers regularly fret about their venerable parents separate from them.According to previous experience of developed countries,the best way to tackle old-age care problem is to make the market regulation/competition primary and government only a supplementary role.The authority should put state-run nursing homes and non-government ones in a fitting position.The chief obligation of public senior care institutions is to take a salvage and guarantee work to those poor and disabled elders who have no kids.Yet we should face the facts that most of top-ranked national nursing homes are occupied by seniors who are affluent and internationally savvy.Still,government ought to encourage/foster volunteers and non-profit charitable social organizations catered to helpless seniors,not only by publishing preferential policies but also by adopting workable measures.
　　It is a high time for both the government and the public to face and solve this problem.Every effort counts.I am firmly convinced that China is uniquely positioned to catch up with its demographic challenges and the commitment is there.Once our mother country implement its plan,the rate at scaling up projects is unequaled.