An official survey conducted recently gave an insight into the
basic conditions of elderly people in cities and rural areas.
The survey interviewed 20,255 pensioners aged above 60 - 10,171
from cities and 10,084 from rural areas - from 20 provincial-level
areas.
Education
Most of the elderly received comparatively less education than
younger generations.
A
total of 43 per cent of those pensioners living in cities did not
receive education in any form, while the figure in rural areas was
higher at 57.3 per cent.
Only 4.2 per cent of urban pensioners received at least a college
education while the number for elderly rural folk decreased
dramatically to 0.2 per cent.
Family Structure
Pensioners have 3.7 children on average, and rural people have 3.9
children.
In
urban areas, 35.1 per cent of senior citizens live with their
spouses or on their own in their own house, while 60.9 per cent
live with children and 4 per cent live elsewhere.
In
rural areas, the rate changes to 32.9, 63.6 and 3.5 per cent
respectively.
Income
Elderly people in cities have a monthly income of 720 yuan (US$87)
on average, while rural people only take home 153 yuan (US$18) on
average.
The huge income gap is mainly due to retirement pensions. Most
urban citizens have a pension, while virtually none of the rural
elderly enjoy such a bonus.
But owing to the relatively low cost of living in rural areas,
rural senior citizens can basically support themselves with a small
income.
Living Preferences
More than 55 per cent of urban citizens prefer to live with their
children, while 13 per cent have no preference and 31.8 per cent do
not like to live with their children.
The number changes greatly in rural areas. Just 44.5 per cent
prefer to live with their children, while 42.3 per cent are willing
to live on their own. The remainder did not show a preference.
Relations with Children
The survey divided filial fealty into four categories: excellent,
good, average, bad.
Elderly people in urban areas rated it as 17.3, 58.9, 22.2 and 1.6
per cent respectively.
Answers from rural senior citizens rated it as 14.6, 58.8, 24.7 and
1.9 per cent.
The feeling towards children was the one category in the survey
where the figures were similar for both the urban and rural
elderly.
Attitude Towards Residential Homes
A
relatively high living standards meant 38 per cent of urban
pensioners view the living conditions in residential homes as
good.
Some 53.5 per cent thought the living conditions were average while
the rest, 8.4 per cent, believed the conditions to be poor.
In
rural areas, 48.9 per cent of elderly people perceived the living
conditions in residential homes to be average, 10.9 per cent said
they were bad while 40.1 per cent considered the services to be
good.
Care Services
The survey found that 6.8 per cent of those interviewed responded
that they needed specialist care from professional nurses.
Demand among those over 75 is higher with 15.6 per cent saying they
need such care.
Service content varies but mainly concentrates on medical care,
housework, preparing dinner and chatting.
Satisfaction
Elderly people in cities are more satisfied than their rural
counterparts, though the percentage of satisfaction is also high in
rural areas.
Some 64 per cent of urban senior citizens are satisfied with their
living conditions, with 31 per cent considering them to be good and
5 per cent feeling frustrated.
In
rural areas, 45 per cent of pensioners are satisfied with their
lives, 44.8 per cent think they are good, while 10.2 per cent
consider them to be bad.
This tendency could also be reflected by another index which showed
that 24.2 per cent of urban pensioners feel lonely at times in
comparison with 35.1 per cent of rural elderly folk.
(China Daily November 19, 2002)