Beijing nursing home caters to people who lost only child

(ECNS) -- Beijing has launched its first nursing home for people who have lost an only child, Xinhua News Agency reported, citing sources at the Beijing Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau.

Renovations have been completed at Beijing's No.5 Social Welfare Institute, and the building has become the first nursing home in the capital city to serve the disadvantaged group, according to the report.

The institute has 450 beds, and applications are now open for the first 50 beds on offer, each at a monthly cost of 2,500 yuan ($370). In the past several days more than 200 people have enquired about the center.

According to Beijing's policy, aged people whose only child has died or suffered a third-degree or more serious disability can apply to stay in the nursing home. People over the age of 70, or those who have adopted a child but lost the ability to carry out daily routines, are also eligible to apply.

In China, disabled people are usually assessed and graded according to restrictions on their ability to live, work or study.

The first group of aged people will move into the nursing home as early as August.

Li Hongbing, vice director of the Civil Affairs Bureau, said the No.5 Social Welfare Institute will no longer admit other aged people except those who have lost an only child.

One consequence of China's now abolished one-child policy is that some parents who lost their children to illness or accidents end up with no one to care for them in their old age.