With the support of policies, how to play a good "first move" in the "preparation for the elderly economy"?

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In January this year, the head of the relevant department of the National Development and Reform Commission mentioned that the silver economy includes two aspects: "the aging economy in the old age stage" and "the preparation economy for the elderly in the pre-old stage". Industry insiders pointed out that the "economy for the elderly" market is broad, but the products and services for the elderly also need to form a certain scale and professional level, and the market expects professional forces to enter.

It is more than 4,000 kilometers from Jiamusi, Heilongjiang to Sanya, Hainan, which is the distance between the two "homes" of Xiaomeng born in the 90s: one is the home where she grew up, and the other is the home where she prepares for her retirement. Although she has only just reached the age of 30, she has already begun to prepare her retirement plan.

In recent years, there are not a few young people like Xiao Meng who pay attention to the pension market in advance, and other middle-aged groups who are close to retirement age have made a lot of reserves for the elderly, and there are more and more participants in the "preparation for the old economy".

"Preparing for old age" touches on all aspects

Xiao Meng told reporters that the main starting point for choosing Hainan for the elderly is the comfort of his life after retirement. She said: "It's really not a joke for Northeast people to spend the New Year in Hainan, and in recent years, many relatives in my hometown have gone to Hainan as soon as the winter is over, because of the comfortable climate, rich variety of fruits, and many preferential shopping tariffs." ”

In July 2023, she and her husband settled in Hainan through the talent introduction policy, and the rest of the time was spent on how to continue to settle down in Hainan and make arrangements for their retirement life. During several long holidays in the first half of this year, Xiao Meng did not go out to play, but went straight to Sanya to see the house.

Like Xiao Meng, who is busy visiting the living environment, there is also Fang Hui, who lives in Changning District, Shanghai. Fang Hui, 52, began to inspect the surrounding community canteens. "In the past, it was popular to call the pension canteen, but now it is more of a community canteen, because everyone can come to eat, I tried a few, and the cost performance is still very good." Xiao Meng said.

Although she has not yet reached retirement age, Fang Hui is already making retirement planning in advance. She said: "There are two elderly people in their seventies and eighties at home, and when my wife and I retire, we will have to support both their old age and ours, and we must take into account food, clothing, housing and transportation. ”

The immediate needs of the elderly will be the future needs of the young. Playing a good "first move" for the elderly is not only a realistic consideration for the masses, but also written into the official plan. In January this year, the General Office of the State Council issued the "Opinions on Developing the Silver Economy and Improving the Well-being of the Elderly" (hereinafter referred to as the "Opinions"), which is the first policy document named after the silver economy in mainland China. The head of the relevant department of the National Development and Reform Commission mentioned that the connotation of the silver economy is defined as the sum of a series of economic activities such as providing products or services to the elderly and preparing for the aging stage. Specifically, it includes two aspects: "aging economy in the old age stage" and "preparing for the elderly economy in the pre-old stage".

The relevant industries have a wide range of layouts

At present, the scale of the mainland's silver economy is about 7 trillion yuan, accounting for about 6% of GDP. A research report by Fudan University's Institute on Aging predicts that by 2035, the scale of the silver economy will reach about 30 trillion yuan, accounting for about 10% of GDP. The reporter learned from the interview that many of these industries focus on products and services in the pre-aging stage.

Ms. Xu, who lives in Beijing's Haidian District, has been busy trying out home renovation projects recently, and unlike other home decorations, her design focuses on "adapting the home environment to the elderly". According to Ms. Xu, the community installed elevators two years ago, and also made the community roads suitable for the elderly, creating a lot of convenience for the elderly to travel. However, the ageing of the interior of the house has not kept up. To this end, Ms. Xu inquired about a number of decoration companies, and found the current professional team for interior renovation through online channels. Before the construction, the other party did a lot of photography and measurement work, and specially communicated with the elderly and their families about the specific transformation needs.

At the same time, the other party also mentioned to Ms. Xu the upgraded version of the intelligent transformation of the home, which made her even more excited. "For example, replace the bed of the elderly with an intelligent monitoring machine, so that the elderly stay in bed for too long, or get up at night for too long, we can receive reminders, and we can also record sleep quality, physical data, etc." Ms. Xu also admitted to reporters that the cost of purchasing these equipment is relatively high, and she can only do spatial transformation for the time being.

Carrying out home renovation for the elderly, encouraging the installation of elevators in old communities, and equipping homes with intelligent safety monitoring equipment are also the key points mentioned in the above-mentioned "Opinions" in promoting the transformation of the elderly. The document emphasizes that it is necessary to focus on diversified needs and cultivate potential industries, including strengthening the innovation of elderly products, creating a new format of smart health care for the elderly, vigorously developing the rehabilitation assistive devices industry, developing the anti-aging industry, enriching the development of pension financial products, and expanding a series of measures such as tourism services.

The market expects professional forces to enter

According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, by the end of 2023, China's population aged 60 and above exceeded 290 million, accounting for 21.1% of the country's population, of which more than 210 million were aged 65 and above, accounting for 15.4% of the country's population. This not only means that the "economy for the elderly" has a broad market, but also requires products and services for the elderly to form a certain scale and professional level.

In the various pension scenarios under the "9073" pension pattern, the demand for escort services is growing due to the difficulty of many elderly people living alone in seeking medical treatment, and the shortage of professional talents is a problem that needs to be solved urgently. On April 19, the 2024 Shanghai Elderly Care Service Escort Training opened at the Shanghai Open University, mainly for the staff engaged in community services for the elderly, including social workers, nursing, management and other positions.

It is understood that on the basis of the first round of training courses last year, the content of the training course has been updated and improved accordingly, and in the basic knowledge section, the physiological characteristics of the elderly and the risk prevention of accompanying patients have been added. In the professional skills section, courses related to basic skills of medical emergency have been added; In addition, the training and teaching of escort training have also been improved, including the whole process of practical exercises of escort and skills such as vital sign observation, support and moving.

The relevant person in charge of the non-academic education department of Shanghai Open University told reporters that the proportion of the elderly population in Shanghai is increasing, and the school has carried out training for appraisers, nurses, caregivers, and escorts for the pension cycle, which is subdivided according to different service stages. At present, the school is drafting two group standards, "Escort Practitioner Skill Requirements" and "Escort Service Specification", which are planned to be released to the society this year, and will put forward detailed requirements for the comprehensive literacy, training content and service requirements of escort doctors, in order to promote the professionalization and standardization of escort services.

Just as Ms. Xu encountered in the early stage of home renovation for the elderly, in the more subdivided field of "preparing for the elderly", the professional strength of relevant practitioners is still insufficient, and it is difficult for consumers to accurately find satisfactory product providers. From the perspective of demand, Ms. Xu said: "When more of these products and services are available, we consumers will have room for choice and comparison, and the prices will be more reasonable." ”

Source: Workers' Daily