The tradition of "raising children for one's old age" (yang er fang lao, 养儿防老) called for children to support their parents when they could no longer work. But that has become almost impossible because of the rapidly aging population, weakening of the extended family, and family planning policies that encourage most people to have only one child.

The group of people who need care is growing much larger and faster compared with the group of caregivers, which is diminishing.

China had more than 194 million elderly (officially defined as at least 60 years old) at the end of 2012, accounting for 14.3 percent of the population, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

That number is expected to reach 243 million by 2020 and 300 million by 2025.

The pressure is even greater in Shanghai, as the Third Shanghai Senior Work Conference heard in 2012. Shanghai's elderly now number around 3.48 million aged 60 or above. They account for 24.5 percent of the total population and will increase by an average of 200,000 annually through 2015. That's double the growth of the senior population group in the five years 2006-2010.

After 2013, more than 80 percent of the "new" elderly population will be parents of an only child, which clearly demonstrates that the tradition of senior care by the younger generation is impossible.

Without enormous help and resources, a two single children cannot care for four in-laws, two on each side of the family.

Though the society has started to marshal its resources and tap new resources — such as setting more nursing homes and developing community care services and systems — most Shanghai elderly still prefer to the traditional "family care" pattern. That's the finding of the Investigation Report on Shanghai Residents' Intention on Caring for the Aged, released by the Shanghai Statistical Bureau in late September.

The survey sampled 2,248 residents aged from 60 to 79 who have lived in Shanghai for more than one year. The report said 67.3 percent of those interviewed are inclined to the "traditional family care" pattern, 21.2 percent are inclined to "home-based care with community support," while only 11.1 percent are for "organization care" and less than 1 percent for other ways.

Staying at their familiar home and low cost are reasons for preferring family care and home-based care with community support.

The long waiting list for good public nursing homes also contributes to seniors reluctant to choose institutional care.

Only 2.9 public nursing beds were available for every 100 registered elders in Shanghai by 2012, although the local government increased the number of beds from 33,400 to 105,000 from 2002 to 2012, according to the report.

Various programs have been set up in recent years to help meet the needs of the elderly, including day-care centers, meals on wheels, and home visits by ayis (domestic helpers) and nurses' aides. Young people also volunteer to help care for seniors, checking on them, chatting, doing chores and shopping.

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