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Empty nesters happy to go it alone
Source: Xinhua |
October 29, 2011, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
ALTHOUGH they have three children, 69-year-old Xia Xiuyun and her husband insist on living independently under their own roof in the southeastern coastal city of Xiamen in Fujian Province.
The retired couple are among the growing numbers of "empty nesters" rejecting the Chinese tradition of reaching old age and moving to live with sons or daughters.
While many in her position would have been expected to accept care from family members, Xia and her husband are happy to live alone.
"They are too busy with their jobs and their children, and we don't want to disturb them," Xia says of her immediate family.
Free check-ups
They are helped in their bold approach by Xiamen's trials of "aging in-home services."
At the Shengguang Community where they live, the couple get free physical check-ups and the services of a team of volunteers who clean their house and delivering meals. Now, other cities including Dalian, Nanjing and Shanghai are exploring similar initiatives.
China currently has more than 177 million people aged 60 or above, and the number is predicted to reach 450 million - one quarter of the country's population - by the middle of the century, according to statistics from the latest national census.
At the same time, more and more youngsters are leaving their parents and heading to big cities, leaving elderly people with tough decisions.
Xie Caixia, a scholar on sociology from Xiamen University, praises the concept of in-home nursing. "It will to a large extent spare the time and energy of the young, and also reduce the burden on nursing homes," Xie says.
The retired couple are among the growing numbers of "empty nesters" rejecting the Chinese tradition of reaching old age and moving to live with sons or daughters.
While many in her position would have been expected to accept care from family members, Xia and her husband are happy to live alone.
"They are too busy with their jobs and their children, and we don't want to disturb them," Xia says of her immediate family.
Free check-ups
They are helped in their bold approach by Xiamen's trials of "aging in-home services."
At the Shengguang Community where they live, the couple get free physical check-ups and the services of a team of volunteers who clean their house and delivering meals. Now, other cities including Dalian, Nanjing and Shanghai are exploring similar initiatives.
China currently has more than 177 million people aged 60 or above, and the number is predicted to reach 450 million - one quarter of the country's population - by the middle of the century, according to statistics from the latest national census.
At the same time, more and more youngsters are leaving their parents and heading to big cities, leaving elderly people with tough decisions.
Xie Caixia, a scholar on sociology from Xiamen University, praises the concept of in-home nursing. "It will to a large extent spare the time and energy of the young, and also reduce the burden on nursing homes," Xie says.
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