The Ministry of Civil Affairs, together with 21 departments, issued the "Guiding Opinions on Accelerating the Development of Rural Pension Services" on June 13. This is the first overall and systematic deployment for the development of rural pension services at the national level.
According to the latest statistics, the population aged 60 and above in mainland China has exceeded 296 million. The elderly population base is large, the aging rate is fast, and the demand for pension is growing rapidly.
In January this year, the State Council issued the "Opinions on Developing the Silver Economy and Improving the Well-being of the Elderly", a programmatic document to promote the development of the silver economy in the new era, which put forward 26 measures in 4 aspects, covering the clothing, food, housing and transportation of the elderly, elderly care, health management and many other aspects.
Compared with the concentration of urban pension service resources and the maturity of the market, at present, the situation of pension for the elderly in rural areas is more urgent, the problems are more prominent, and they are facing many "hurdles".
First, there are many elderly people. With the development of the economy, more and more young people are working and developing in the city, and the phenomenon of empty nesting of rural families continues to appear. Nationally, the proportion of people aged 60 and above in rural areas is 23.81 percent, 7.99 percentage points higher than that in urban areas.
Second, there is little service. There are 16,000 rural nursing homes with 1,681,000 beds in mainland China. There are about 145,000 rural mutual pension service facilities, but due to the scattered residence of the elderly, the convenience and accessibility of services need to be improved.
In view of the current situation of "more" and "less" pension in rural areas, the opinions set the goal -
By 2025, the rural elderly care service network will be further improved, and the outstanding service needs of the elderly, such as disability care, medical and health care, meal assistance, visit and care, learning and entertainment, will be effectively met.
How can this be achieved?
Opinions weave a happy "net" covering the three levels of counties and villages for the elderly in rural areas.
At the county level, by 2025, each county will have at least one county-level support service institution for the extremely poor that focuses on disability care. These institutions also need to undertake the overall planning of pension resources and the training of pension talents.
At the township level, more regional elderly care service centers will be established that can provide full-day care and day care services. By 2025, the overall service coverage of such service centers will not be less than 60% of the province's territory.
At the village level, increase the number of elderly care service points. Here, the elderly can eat hot meals, see a doctor for a minor illness, ask someone to buy daily necessities, etc., and strive to meet the daily needs of the elderly in rural areas without leaving the village or leaving the hometown.
What supports this "net"?
The opinions put forward that "stimulating endogenous power" and "strengthening support and guarantee" go together.
The rural areas of the mainland are a society of acquaintances, with close interpersonal relationships, and villagers are enthusiastic about mutual assistance and reciprocity.
At present, various localities have made useful explorations around giving full play to the enthusiasm of village collectives and villagers to participate in old-age services.
Some villages have set up "happy courtyards" through "the elderly take a little pension by themselves, the children take the initiative to contribute a little, the village collective economy gives a little, the social forces donate a little, and strive for the superiors to make up a little";
Some villages have set up "points banks" to help deliver meals and assist in cleaning, and the points can be exchanged for goods and services.
The opinions have incorporated the exploratory experience of all parties and strengthened their support.
For example, villagers use their own houses or leased sites to set up pension service institutions, and their opinions ask for help to improve the safety level of fire protection, construction, food, etc.; Encourage the young and healthy elderly, rural left-behind women, etc. to form rural pension mutual aid service teams, and relevant personnel who participate in skills training can also get vocational training subsidies.
"Strengthening support and guarantee" is to target and make up for shortcomings.
Where are the pension service points located? The opinions put forward that the land use policy should be improved, and the rural pension service facilities should be included in the township-level land and space planning or village planning.
Where does the money come from? In addition to clarifying the government's "solid foundation", the opinions also encourage state-owned or private enterprises to operate pension service facilities in rural areas, and financial institutions to strengthen support.
Let the pension become "enjoy the old". It should be pointed out that there are still some problems restricting rural pension services in the mainland. With the implementation of this overall deployment, the whole society will work together to weave a denser and denser "net" of pension happiness, and the sunset red picture will be more beautiful.
Source: China Gansu Net WeChat public account
Editor: Zhao Jin