"Demographic Tsunami"

Good morning, Saturday.

It's pretty rare that I can wake up and do whatever I want. The world is endless! I obviously choose to eat smoked gorgonzola tortellini drenched in some kind of cheese sauce (yes, that would make it cheese-on-cheese), and then wander over to my computer to write a blog post due to my weeks of negligence.

I choose today to tribute to the aging population in China. Most recently, I visited my great aunt in the hospital - she had no children. It was a stomach twisting sight. She had a few visitors, but it made me realize that it was a lonely road for our aging population. If I visit once every few weeks, or if my parents visit every week, she still has to live out every other minute of those weeks less the one hour visit alone. Well, not alone - she shares a hospital room with 2 other people - there is no privacy.

Yet, we've been hearing the bells ring for sometime - a "Demographic Tsunami" - coined by Joseph J. Christian at the Harvard Kennedy School, is hitting China. The one child policy, and lack of government support/funding is making spending time in a hospital room shared with 2 other people look like fun.

Families hold the primary burden of elderly care in China, the elderly social support systems are not yet fully developed. With the one child policy, this doubles the burden of parental elderly care (and quadruples if grandparents are living). According to the World Bank, China has 38,000 institutions serving the elderly which is only enough for 1.6% of the population over 60 (8% compared in developed countries) - and these are only in the cities.

Jing Jun, Professor of Anthropology in Tsinghua University states that if you cannot find help in Beijing, there will be no help. There is little to no care for aging seniors in urban communities. In the eastern city of Nanjing, it was found that less that 1/3 of the homes had a hired a qualified nurse/doctor and that most of the staff were rural migrant workers with little to no training. "The goal of these homes is subsistence for residents whose children cannot take care of them" - is a brutal yet realistic statement.

The next question is when will the Chinese government react? The aging population is estimated to rise from 178M in 2009 to 437M by 2050 - ONE THIRD OF THE POPULATION! As my heart aches for my great aunt taken care of in the hospital here in Canada, I don't even want to think about the alternative of a 20m x 20m apartment rampant with cockroaches, no indoor toilet or heating/cooling system, and medical care from those not professionally trained.

Good morning, Saturday - I am thankful today.