Respond to changes in family structure and innovate home community pensions

【Bright Times Review】

Author: YANG Ge (Special Researcher of Xi Jinping Research Center for Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in the New Era, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Associate Researcher of Institute of Population and Labor Economics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)

According to the latest China Statistical Yearbook, the proportion of "one-generation households" in the country in 2020 will increase by 15.33 percentage points from 10 years ago to 49.5%. The so-called "generation of households" is the situation in which people of the same generation live or live alone.

China's family model is changing from "four generations in the same house" to a "nuclear family" in which husband and wife bring a baby. The transition to a family model dominated by living alone or husband and wife reflects the changes in China's family structure and living patterns during the period of social transition, which may affect the realization of family functions and the stability of family relations. Especially in the context of population aging, the simple home care model will face great challenges and need the support and supplement of public policies and social resources.

In traditional Chinese society, the extended family and the family union formed by blood relations are typical family structural characteristics. All economic production is centered on the family and kinship, making the extended family a form of existence for "maximizing interests" in traditional Chinese society. Although there is a strong kinship culture in the Chinese tradition, such cultural attributes are changing. With the demographic and social transformation, the following trends have emerged in Chinese households. First, the size of the family is shrinking, the family structure tends to be single, the interpersonal relationships in the family tend to be simplified, and the complex interpersonal relationships (such as concubines and concubines) in the traditional extended family gradually disappear. In modern families, social roles such as husband and wife, grandchildren, parents, and children will become the main social roles in the concentration of family roles, and family members will have a clearer understanding of their respective roles in the family and their behavioral norms and behavior patterns.

A number of data indicators reflect this trend. In 1982, the average household size in China was 4.41 people, in 2000 and 2010 it fell to 3.44 people per household and 3.10 people per household, and in 2020 it further fell to 2.62 people per household. In addition to the reasons for the decline in the number of children in families, the frequent movement of people is also an important reason for the disintegration of traditional multi-generational families. The category of households has also changed significantly, with one generation accounting for nearly half of the total households, and the proportion of single-person households rising from 14.5% in 2010 to 25.4% in 2020. The proportion of second- and third-generation households decreased from 47.8% and 17.3% in 2010 to 36.7% and 13.3% in 2020, respectively. The miniaturization of family size and the flattening of family structure will weaken traditional family functions (such as childcare and old-age care), and the family's ability to resist risks will also be relatively weakened.

It is worth noting that the proportion of the elderly living in single households or "empty nest families" has increased significantly, which will have a profound impact on China's home-based pension model. According to the theory of the family life cycle, an "empty nest family" means that all children leave their parents' families after they reach adulthood, and only one generation of parents remains in the original family. According to the China Household Dynamics Survey conducted in Shanghai, Fujian and Zhejiang, more than half of the elderly population aged 60 and above live in "empty nest families", and the proportion of the elderly population aged 80 and over in the empty nest state is still as high as 40%. As parents of only children gradually enter the old age stage, the proportion of "empty nest families" will rise rapidly, with a profound impact on family function.

In order to cope with the impact of the change of intergenerational living mode on home care, China encourages and promotes the return of multi-generational cohabitation mode on the one hand, and on the other hand, promotes the "socialization" of family pension responsibility and expands the supply of home care services. The "Opinions of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on Strengthening the Work of the Elderly in the New Era" pointed out that it is necessary to study and formulate support policies such as housing, improve the policy of ladder electricity, water and gas prices, and encourage adult children to live nearby or with their elderly parents, fulfill their maintenance obligations, and assume care responsibilities. In addition, nursing care subsidies, inheritance tax or housing tax reductions, and housing purchase concessions are also common policy initiatives in Asian countries such as South Korea and Singapore to encourage children to live with their parents. In the face of large-scale population movements, these initiatives are of great significance to remove barriers for the elderly to turn to their children. The "Regulations on Pension Services in Jiangsu Province" proposes to provide facilities such as "household registration placement and medical insurance settlement" for the elderly in other places to rely on their children. Cities such as Shanghai, Beijing, and Shenzhen, where the hukou content is high, also provide a channel for the elderly from other places to settle down with their children. Up to now, the hospitalization costs of off-site medical treatment have been directly settled by medical insurance, and the cross-provincial direct settlement of ordinary outpatient expenses is being piloted in 27 regions.

Improving the socialized old-age service and innovating the model of combining home-based old-age care with community old-age care are important means to adapt to China's national conditions to cope with the weakening of family old-age functions. Community old-age care services and home-based old-age care services are an effective supplement to the traditional family pension model, reducing the pressure of family old-age care, and can provide life care, housekeeping services, rehabilitation nursing, medical first aid, cultural entertainment and spiritual comfort services for the elderly at home. China's current home community old-age care services still have the problems of insufficient coverage, limited service capacity, lack of professionals, diversification and low degree of marketization. To this end, governments at all levels are increasing financial investment, encouraging and supporting the participation of social capital, improving community pension infrastructure; exploring and promoting the establishment of a model for the extension of professional institutional services to communities and families; demand-oriented, improving the ability of community home care services, and rationally allocating community home care service resources to meet the needs of different levels.

Guangming Daily (11th edition, December 16, 2021)

Source: Guangming Network - Guangming Daily