Bijie, China – March 27, 2021 – The daily lives of the elderly at a health center in Bijie, Guizhou Province, southwest China, on March 27, 2021.
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Troubled by falling birth rates and a rapidly aging population, tens of thousands of Chinese kindergartens have scaled back operations, closed entirely or turned to industry to survive.
A kindergarten in the eastern province of Zhejiang still operates as a daycare facility, but no longer serves children but the elderly.
Last year, 56-year-old Zhuang Yan transformed a kindergarten in Jinhua, Zhejiang, into a senior care center. she told local media She came up with the idea after struggling to fill her classroom with enough babies and toddlers.
There is almost no trace of the kindergarten in the photos of the renovated courtyard buildings. The once colorful walls were repainted a creamy white and the blackboards were replaced with bulletin boards littered with information about health care and nutritious meals for seniors.
China’s birth rate has been on a sharp decline since the government implemented a strict “one-child policy” nationwide in 1980.
Between 2021 and 2023, preschool education children It fell nearly 15% to just under 41 million.
According to CNBC, it is not surprising that kindergartens, both public and private, have also been closed in the past two years, reducing the number of kindergartens nationwide by 20,000. China Ministry of Education data analysis. This coincides with a government efforts closure private Kindergarten, while trying to open more state-supported kindergartens to reduce costs for families.
On the contrary, in China’s aging population crisis, while preschools have been affected, the elderly care industry is booming. According to statistics, the number of elderly care service institutions and facilities doubled this month compared with 2019, reaching more than 410,000 Communist Party of China.
The Chinese government has stepped up policy measures to promote the “silver economy”, or industries that provide goods and services to people over 50 years old, to deal with China’s aging population. In the guidelines, State Council Office It calls for accelerating the “development of elderly care institutions” and stimulating “consumption by the elderly.”
“China’s aging is only going to intensify,” said Harry Murphy Crews, an economist at Moody’s Analytics. He predicts that by 2040, about 30% of the population will be over 65, up from 15% now. , the population under 15 years old will drop from 17% now to just over 10%.
“Aging will increase the size of the addressable market for goods and services targeted at older adults,” Kruse added.
People exercise in a park in Shanghai, China, on Saturday, April 10, 2021.
Shen Qilai | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Economic Highlight: Seniors
Xu Tianchen, an economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit, told CNBC that the elderly population is “the next huge market opportunity with a high degree of certainty.” Xu said that as China’s economy rises, wealth among the elderly continues to accumulate and their economic status tends to be more robust.
Lynn Song, chief China economist at ING, said the retired or retiring population has “money to spend” and is seeking “a high-quality post-retirement life.”
Some Chinese dairy companies that produce dairy products for infants and young children Start developing new products It is specially tailored for middle-aged and elderly people, with special effects such as improving sleep quality, bone density and immune system as selling points.
As China enters a rapidly aging society, the demand for elderly-centered goods and services will increase dramatically starting from 2030.
Erica Cheng
Director of Macro Research, Maybank
Zhenmu Dairy, a specialist goat milk producer in China’s main sheep-raising province of Shanxi, has been promoting its products by holding events at elderly care centres, during which its top managers will give speeches and give away free samples. According to the company.
In Shanghai, more and more gyms Seeking to attract older fitness enthusiasts Equip facilities to suit their needs, install point-of-care health monitoring equipment and provide physiotherapy sessions for chronic conditions.
Xu said China has the ability to become a leading producer of products specifically for the elderly, “think robot caregivers, smart home products for the elderly and artificial intelligence pill boxes.”
Raise retirement age
Despite the growth of its “silver economy”, Beijing continues to struggle to mitigate the catastrophic impact of its aging population crisis on the long-term health of its economy.
In September, the country’s top legislative body passed a official plan Begins to gradually raise the country’s statutory retirement age in an attempt to tap into the growing pool of older workers to alleviate the overall shrinking labor force.
On January 28, 2024, a staff member was shaving the head of an old man in Zaozhuang, China.
Cost Photos | Noor Photos | Getty Images
The move was controversial and unpopular among young people on social media in China, but economists said it was a “necessary” step.
Compared with the global average, China’s retirement age is relatively low. That, combined with a rapidly aging population, has created a growing “underutilized workforce,” which he calls “young people,” said Xu of the Economist Intelligence Unit.
By 2040, China aims to raise the retirement age for all men from the current 60 to 63, and for female white-collar workers from 55 to 58. Previously, blue-collar women who retired at age 50 had to wait until age 55 to retire.
Even so, these ages are still significantly lower than those in the United States. statutory retirement age All workers born in 1960 or later are 67, Japan’s retirement age is 65 for both men and women.
Moody’s Analytics’ Cruz said that by “prolonging the connection of older people to the labor force,” China hopes not only to reduce the financial burden of paying retirement benefits but also to increase tax revenue.
Last month, China Released by the Ministry of Civil Affairs Regarding the guidance of “Operation Silver Age”, the program encourages senior citizens who have worked in education, science and agriculture, as well as other technical fields to volunteer for projects aimed at promoting growth in underdeveloped areas.
—CNBC’s Sonia Heng contributed to this article.
