#119 An aging society has come – How would China deal with it? 中国准备好老龄化社会了吗？

大家好！欢迎回来MaoMi Chinese！

我们聊了很多年轻人的话题，今天，我想和大家聊一聊关于老人的话题。最近，我看了一个报告。这个报告说，在中国，65岁以上的老人已经超过了两亿，大约是总人口的百分之十四。这个数字太大了。巴西有大约两亿人，日本有大约一点三亿人。中国的老年人和巴西的总人口差不多一样，比日本的总人口还多。现在，中国的年轻人都越来越不想生孩子了，每一年出生的孩子都比上一年少。也就是说，年轻人会越来越少，老年人会越来越多。中国准备好老龄化社会了吗？在中国，人们会怎么样养老呢？今天我们一起来聊一聊吧。

在很多年里，中国的老人都由他们的孩子照顾，又或者由家里的年轻人照顾。中国人有一个观念：养儿防老。意思是我们要生孩子，以后我们老了就有人照顾。在中国的传统文化里，照顾父母和祖父母是天经地义的事情。天经地义，这是一个成语，意思是这个事情是必须要做的，是一个常识。比如，在中国，年轻人照顾老人是天经地义的事情。比如，保护环境是每个人的责任，这是天经地义的。因为这一个天经地义的事情，在很多年里，在中国养老都不是一个问题，因为总会有年轻人照顾老人。但是，独生子女政策以后，事情就不一样了。

1979年，中国政府开始了独生子女政策，也就是一个家庭只能有一个孩子。但是这些孩子长大以后，他们发现照顾老人太难了！为什么呢？我们来做一个数学的题目。一个男人和一个女人结婚，他们都是家里的独生子女。他们两个年轻人，要照顾男人的爸爸妈妈，和女人的爸爸妈妈。他们还可能要照顾男人的爷爷奶奶和姥姥、姥爷，女人的爷爷奶奶和姥姥、姥爷。他们至少要照顾四个老人，还有他们的孩子。这对于年轻人来说，实在是太辛苦了！于是，中国的养老院慢慢地多了起来。

现在，越来越多的年轻人不想要生孩子，以后，中国的老人也会越来越多，年轻人会越来越少。虽然养老院变多了，但是还远远不够，它们为老人提供的服务也不够好。中国的养老院发展很困难，这是为什么呢？我想，有这几个原因：第一，因为传统的观念，很多老人不愿意去养老院，也有很多年轻人不愿意送老人去养老院。他们觉得这是很丢脸的事情，因为老人由家里的年轻人照顾是天经地义的。第二，中国的很多养老院都赚不了钱，都在亏钱。这是因为大部分中国人的工资不太高，他们的退休金也不太高。但是养老院照顾老人的成本太高了，很多人不想去便宜但是糟糕的养老院，但是他们又觉得好的养老院太贵了。第三，中国政府可能还没有发展养老院的经验。以前，中国的年轻人很多，年轻人也可以照顾老人，不需要很多养老院。现在，中国的政府知道了养老院很重要，但是现在的经验还不太多。

等现在的年轻人老的时候，他们的生活会怎么样呢？到那时候，会有很多舒服的养老院吗？我们只能带着这个问题，继续生活。

在你的国家，老人们是怎么养老的呢？欢迎在评论和我们分享！

Hello everyone! Welcome back to MaoMi Chinese!

We've talked about many topics concerning young people, but today I want to discuss a topic about the elderly. Recently, I came across a report that stated there are over 200 million people aged 65 and above in China, which accounts for about 14% of the total population. This number is quite large. Brazil has approximately 200 million people, and Japan has around 130 million people. The number of elderly in China is almost equivalent to the total population of Brazil and even more than that of Japan. Now, young people in China are getting more ad more unwilling to have children, and each year, the number of births is decreasing compared to the previous year. This means that the young population will continue to decline while the elderly population will continue to grow. Is China prepared for an aging society? How do people in China take care of their elderly? Let's discuss it together today.

For many years, elderly people in China were taken care of by their children or younger family members. Chinese people have a concept called "养儿防老" (raising children to support one in old age), meaning that they have children so that they will be taken care of in their old age. In Chinese traditional culture, taking care of parents and grandparents is considered a matter of course. "天经地义" (a matter of course) is an idiom that means something must be done and is common sense. For example, in China, it is a matter of course for young people to take care of the elderly. For example, protecting the environment is everyone's responsibility; it is a matter of course. For many years, taking care of the elderly in China was not a problem because there were always younger people to take care of them. However, things have changed after the implementation of the one-child policy.

In 1979, the Chinese government introduced the one-child policy, which meant that most families were allowed to have only one child. However, as these children grew up, they found it challenging to take care of their parents. Why is that? Let's do a math problem. If a man and a woman get married, and both of them are only children in their families, they, as young people, would need to take care of the man's parents, the woman's parents, the man's grandparents, the woman's grandparents, and possibly even great-grandparents. They would need to take care of at least four elderly individuals, in addition to their own children. This is too burdensome for young people! As a result, the number of nursing homes in China has gradually increased.

Nowadays, more and more young people in China are not willing to have children. Consequently, the number of elderly people in China will continue to rise while the number of young people decreases. Although there are more nursing homes now, they are still far from sufficient, and the services they provide for the elderly are not yet satisfactory. The development of nursing homes in China is challenging, and there are several reasons for this. First, due to traditional beliefs, many elderly people and young people are reluctant to send the elderly to nursing homes. They consider it a matter of losing face because it is a matter of course for the elderly to be taken care of by younger family members. Second, many nursing homes in China are not profitable and are running at a loss. This is because the majority of Chinese people do not have high salaries, and their retirement pensions are not high either. However, the cost of caring for the elderly in nursing homes is high. Many people are reluctant to go to cheap but poor-quality nursing homes, while they also find good nursing homes too expensive. Third, the Chinese government may not yet have sufficient experience in developing nursing homes. In the past, there were many young people in China who could take care of the elderly, and there was not a significant need for many nursing homes. Now, the government realizes the importance of nursing homes, but they still lack sufficient experience.

What will life be like for the current young people when they grow old? Will there be many comfortable nursing homes at that time? We can only carry this question with us and continue living.

How do elderly people take care of themselves in your country? Feel free to share in the comments!