China's ageing population crisis

21 Sep 2012, 12:47 pm   -   Source: BBC
Share This
0 
+ Comment
1

China is facing major challenges with its elderly population predicted to surpass the total population of Western Europe by 2030.

RELATED

China's elderly population is predicted to surpass the total population of Western Europe by 2030.

Today there are 180 million Chinese aged over 60 but this is due to double to 360 million in the next 20 years.

Retired farmer Niu Yubiao and his wife live in Dongzigou village in Henan, one of China’s poorest provinces. They fend for themselves with no support from their children or the government.

“I never thought what would happen when I’m old,” the 79-year-old told the BBC.

“I don’t know where my kids are. I guess I will die and no one will know."

Their circumstances are typical of the elderly in China where there is not yet a system of pensions or affordable healthcare and homes for retirees.

 

Watch this related story from SBS Dateline:

China

  • Follow us: 
  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Twitter
  • Follow us on Youtube

Your Comments

If no population control in China...??

Dalpoim Guedes - from Brisbane, Queensland, 8 months ago

I have watched SBS World News for eighteen years and sent you congratulations. Sadly, since your reporter, Damian Grammaticus, has covered China his reports have become embarrassingly prejudiced. His report on China's population control policy this evening was an example. Did he mention what the population of China without any such measures would be? Did he interview anyone who supported the policy? Anyone to speak about consequences such as massive famine? Or that OZ's demographic is similar ?

Join the Discussion

Name
City / Suburb E.g. Artarmon, Sydney
Title
Comment
You have characters remaining.
Validation
What's this?
This is a captcha-picture. It is used to prevent mass-access by robots.
All submitted comments become the property of SBS. They are moderated, so we reserve the right to edit comments and remove HTML tags. Not all submitted comments will be published. Publication does not mean we endorse the opinions expressed. Please read our terms and conditions for more information.