In China, the issue of population aging is becoming increasingly serious, coupled with reasons such as widowhood, solo living, divorce, and children living far away, the number of elderly people living alone has surged in recent years. Against this backdrop, the emergence of “outsourced children” services has become prevalent.
According to reports from mainland China, a bodyguard team in Dalian, Liaoning, transformed to provide “outsourced children” services since March this year. In just three months, the team has expanded to a size of thousands.
Different from traditional nannies and caregivers, these services mainly provide companionship, walks, accompany medical visits, mediate family disputes, among others. The fees range from 500 yuan to 2500 yuan per service, and team members can earn over ten thousand yuan per month.
Currently, apart from Liaoning, companies in Henan have also introduced similar services. “The Beijing News” recently reported that the age group of users of such services has advanced to the range of fifty to sixty years. Most of them are not fully disabled yet but due to reasons like children settling in other places or being single with no relatives, they are actively seeking emotional and life support.
53-year-old single Wu Wei is one of them. Wu Wei mentioned that there are many elderly people in her family, but as most of the younger generation are unable to take care of them, since 2011 she has maintained long-term contact with seven or eight young people under the guise of “shared children”. The relationship has evolved from an employment model to gradually become a “family-like interaction”.
Wu Wei stated, “They are children with parents; I’m just ‘borrowing’ their company, just like borrowing Wi-Fi.” When the “daughter” is out, Wu Wei helps take care of the children. If she sees dirty clothes piling up in the “daughter’s” house, she will also wash and hang them. In times of difficulty, she also involves her “shared children” in taking care together.
Chen Fang, whose only daughter lives abroad, has become a user of “outsourced children” services. Since the first half of this year, she has been posting on social platforms seeking a companion who is “like family but does not need to live together.” Through emotional cultivation, she aims to replace the traditional employment relationship.
With the establishment of trust relationships, some interviewees have started considering appointing guardians by intention. Wu Wei said she hopes to find suitable candidates from these “shared children” and sign a guardianship contract while she is still coherent. When she becomes unable to take care of herself, she wants to leave with dignity, and her duty is to bequeath her possessions.
According to the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Committee on Aging of the Communist Party of China, by the end of 2024, the number of people aged 60 and above in China has exceeded 310 million. The “Fifth National Survey on the Living Conditions of the Elderly in Urban and Rural China” data bulletin shows that the proportion of elderly people living alone in the country has reached 14.2%.
The “outsourced children” service reflects the urgent need of the elderly for companionship and care in the context of population aging in mainland China. It also highlights the practical dilemma where children are unable to personally care for their elderly due to work and geographical factors.
However, opinions on “outsourced children” on social media are sharply divided. Some netizens believe that such services are an inevitable choice in the market that meets the current social needs. On the other hand, some netizens believe that there are significant safety risks. One netizen mentioned, “What if one day the elderly cannot speak, and they are forcefully taken out of a hospital by ‘outsourced children,’ tricked into divesting savings and misappropriating pension funds, what should be done?”