People 80 and older to receive payments
By Li Xinran |
March 11, 2010, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
PEOPLE aged 80 and above are expected to be eligible for subsidies nationwide this year.
The Ministry of Civil Affairs is mapping out the plan, a senior official with the ministry has said.
Legislators suggested the government-funded subsidies, saying the country's traditional model of in-home elderly care may no longer be suitable, given the nation's one-child policy and the aging of parents.
Li Guoling, a deputy to the National People's Congress, said young couples can hardly handle the situation when most of them have to serve four elderly people almost the same time.
Wang Zhenyao, director of the ministry's social welfare and philanthropy promotion department, said the ministry planned to set 80 as the nationwide age threshold for the payments.
A bill over the issue is being drafted, he added.
Members of China's top advisory body suggested building day care centers for elderly, offering leisure activities and medical treatment.
Wang indicated that the ministry had carried out feasibility research and hoped that most communities in both urban and rural areas be equipped with the day care centers in the next five years.
By the end of 2008, the aging population nationwide has reached 169 million, accounting for 12.79 percent of the total population and with an annual increase of nearly 10 million.
By 2020, the aging population could be 248 million and the figure for 2050 is expected to be 437 million.
That would be more than 30 percent of the total population.
China now has about 2.5 million beds for elderly care, or less than 15 beds per 1,000 elderly people, compared with 70 beds per 1,000 in developed countries.
The Ministry of Civil Affairs is mapping out the plan, a senior official with the ministry has said.
Legislators suggested the government-funded subsidies, saying the country's traditional model of in-home elderly care may no longer be suitable, given the nation's one-child policy and the aging of parents.
Li Guoling, a deputy to the National People's Congress, said young couples can hardly handle the situation when most of them have to serve four elderly people almost the same time.
Wang Zhenyao, director of the ministry's social welfare and philanthropy promotion department, said the ministry planned to set 80 as the nationwide age threshold for the payments.
A bill over the issue is being drafted, he added.
Members of China's top advisory body suggested building day care centers for elderly, offering leisure activities and medical treatment.
Wang indicated that the ministry had carried out feasibility research and hoped that most communities in both urban and rural areas be equipped with the day care centers in the next five years.
By the end of 2008, the aging population nationwide has reached 169 million, accounting for 12.79 percent of the total population and with an annual increase of nearly 10 million.
By 2020, the aging population could be 248 million and the figure for 2050 is expected to be 437 million.
That would be more than 30 percent of the total population.
China now has about 2.5 million beds for elderly care, or less than 15 beds per 1,000 elderly people, compared with 70 beds per 1,000 in developed countries.
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