Half of Chinese urban elderly live alone

Nearly half of all elderly people in China’s cities live alone andhave inadequate healthcare, state media said Wednesday, citing a recentsurvey.  An estimated 49.7 percent of city dwellers aged 60 orolder lived in “empty nests,” Xinhua news agency said, quoting a surveyby the government-run China Elderly Work Committee Office.  In thepast, care for the elderly was considered a key virtue but greaterindividualism in recent decades has led to the corrosion of traditionalvalues, analysts say. The survey found that the number of Chineseaged 60 and older in late 2006 was 149 million, or 11.3 percent of thepopulation, imposing a growing welfare burden on China.

“As thecountry’s population is aging, more old people are in need of long-termcare,” the report said, quoting Guo Haoming, an official with theChinese Association for Life Care, a Beijing-based volunteerorganisation.  Guo said the elderly needed daily care, mentalsupport, emergency aid and hospice care but the development of relatedindustries lagged behind, with the services available far from adequate.

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