In a recent survey released by China, the results regarding the elderly show that the proportion of empty-nest elderly has reached nearly 60%. Among them, 46.1% of the elderly can only afford nursing homes that cost less than 1,000 Chinese yuan per month. Currently, the fees of nursing institutions in China are generally higher than what the elderly can afford.
The Ministry of Civil Affairs of the Communist Party of China, the National Working Committee on Aging, the National Health Commission, the Ministry of Finance, the China Association of Gerontology, and the China Family Planning Association jointly issued the “Basic Data Bulletin of the Fifth National Sample Survey on the Living Conditions of the Elderly in Urban and Rural China” on October 17.
The announcement shows that in 2021, the proportion of younger elderly people (aged 60-69) in China is 56.2%, the middle-aged elderly (aged 70-79) account for 30.4%, and the elderly aged 80 and above make up 13.4%.
The average number of children for the elderly is 2.6, a decrease of 0.6 from 2010, indicating a significant decline in the average number of children for elderly families in China as the first generation of only children enters old age.
The survey shows that in 2021, 88.4% of elderly people in China are able to take care of themselves, 7.1% have some difficulty in self-care, and 4.5% are unable to take care of themselves. Among those surveyed, 13.2% of the elderly reported needing care in their daily lives, of which 83.0% received assistance, indicating that 17% of the elderly have unmet care needs.
The survey also indicates that in 2021, among elderly people willing to reside in nursing institutions, 46.1% can afford no more than 1,000 yuan per month, 22.6% can afford 1,000-1,999 yuan per month, 15.6% can afford 2,000-2,999 yuan per month, and 15.8% can afford 3,000 yuan or more per month.
According to data from a special survey on elderly care services conducted by the Beijing Municipal People’s Political Consultative Conference in 2023, the average monthly fee for nursing institutions in the city is around 5,500 yuan, with fees for institutionalized elderly people with severe disabilities or dementia generally exceeding 7,000 yuan. Nursing institution fees are generally higher than what the elderly can afford.
Based on the survey results, by 2021, the proportion of empty-nest elderly in China has reached nearly 60%, an increase of 10.4 percentage points from 2010.
Empty-nest elderly generally refer to middle-aged and elderly people who live alone after their children leave home due to work, study, marriage, or other reasons.
With the deepening of the aging process in society, the increasing number of empty-nest elderly has become a social issue that cannot be ignored.
The survey information shows that the Fifth National Sample Survey mainly includes basic information on the elderly population, family status, health status, care services status, economic status, livable environment status, social participation status, rights protection awareness and behavior status, mental and cultural life status, etc. The survey was conducted in an electronic questionnaire format, with investigators collecting data from households, with the standard survey time point set at midnight on August 1, 2021.