An aged couple walks on a avenue in Yantai, Shandong province, China on Oct. 29, 2022.
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BEIJING — China cannot simply depend on growing childbirths to deal with its growing old inhabitants points, stated Du Peng, vice principal of Renmin College of China.
No matter what number of youngsters are born in China, the variety of people who find themselves aged 60 and above will roughly double to greater than 500 million within the 12 months 2050, he advised reporters throughout a chat on Wednesday.
To attenuate the financial influence of such inhabitants adjustments, he stated policymakers can take motion right this moment: by elevating the retirement age, bettering insurance coverage protection and growing retirees’ social participation, amongst different measures.
Du is director of the college’s Institute of Gerontology, which implies referring to the aged. He’s additionally a member of the skilled committee for China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs.
China’s inhabitants development has slowed as births drop and lifespans improve. Within the final ten years, Beijing has began to unwind strict insurance policies that for about three many years had restricted households to at least one baby every.
Excessive schooling and housing prices, particularly within the massive cities the place extra jobs are situated, has additionally discouraged households from having youngsters.
Many international locations with related conditions additionally face growing old inhabitants points, wherein a shrinking youthful workforce has to assist a bigger portion of the inhabitants.
Du stated Wednesday he pays shut consideration to how different international locations — notably Eire and France — are addressing growing old inhabitants points. He additionally stated China was growing communication with South Korean and Japanese students on the subject.
It wasn’t till 2018, whereas visiting Singapore, that he stated he was requested for the primary time about China’s expertise in dealing with growing old inhabitants points.
The nation faces a singular scenario wherein a good portion of its aged reside in rural areas as an alternative of cities, Du identified.