China’s Seniors

Since retirement is usually at an older age, the term “senior” is also used frequently in association with retirement. The age of seniors will vary from different countries. In China, it is usually 60 years and above for men and 50-55 for women, the age that is mandatory for retirement from a Chinese civil service. China has the largest number of seniors in the world, nearly 15 percent of China's population; more than 200 million people are now 60 or older, according to the China Research Center on Aging. It is expected that the percentage of seniors will peak to over 30 percent by 2030 in China and in some major urban centers this percentage is even higher.

Old people are arguably among the happiest people in China. You can often find them singing and dancing in the parks or hanging out and joking around on the streets with their friends. Their cheerfulness appears to come from three sources: Confucianism, which teaches respect to one's elders; having a network of good friends; and the fact that older people, after a life of working hard, finally get a chance to kick back and relax and have their children take care of them. Ironically though, this can and does place a lot of pressure on the children, particularly the males. Among those in their 30-40’s shouldering the responsibility of providing for senior family members is a big issue. Especially in the aftermath of the long-standing one-child policy, many times it is a story of four older folks all looking to the same couple for assistance. So this may be a cheery time for seniors, but one of big burdens for the adult children.

Of course, this is the ideal situation as many seniors may feel that it is too difficult to completely abandon any work activity and especially as a result of the one child policy, there are fewer grandchildren to pamper and likely only one direct offspring to help with retirement expenses. For these reasons many retirees will look for part-time work or volunteer services just to keep active or to help cover household bills.

China Seniors

The Chinese really live as “families”, which often includes several generations working together to meet family expenses. While some in the west may see senior living as something left to the parents alone, in China often it will be something the whole family is involved in. As mentioned previously in JIN, the cost of living in China is not cheap, despite what some may claim. One of the biggest issues is housing. It is not uncommon for a 100 square meter apartment in Beijing or Tianjin to be selling for around 1,000,000 USD. That is a huge sum of money in any country. As such, seniors often provide the down payment for the place and the children are left carrying the monthly note. This could easily result in most of the couple’s income going towards paying the mortgage. With housing costs being so high, and seeing that the parents pay the hefty down payment, this can create an “obligation” for at least one set of seniors to live with the children. In many cases this is the son’s parents as customarily it is them who pays the down payment or perhaps owned the house originally.

Not all seniors are facing challenges with housing or pinching pennies. If the senior is a private businessman, there is no mandatory retirement age and many successful entrepreneurs will continue working well into their 70’s or 80’s as long as their health and intellectual capacities are able. These folks are still working for reasons quite different than those mentioned above. Instead of feeling financial pressure and a need to make a positive contribution to the monthly budget, these seniors stay on the job because working simply is their life. Examples of this are Li Ka-Shing and Stanley Ho aged 88 and 94 respectively and still going strong. Locally, I recently met with Mr. Zhou Yucheng who is 68 and still expanding his business group in the medical and new energy sectors. He shows no sign of slowing down and feels great about pursuing fields that are contributing to China’s growth. He also has an incredible travel schedule with company interests in Canada, United States and Europe.

Indeed, a number of Chinese seniors seem to have little interest in using their retirement years for sitting around. They like to be active. In Tianjin take a trip to any park in the early morning and it is likely full of senior citizens on the move. They usually are busy power walking, stretching, doing Tai Chi, singing loudly, or playing some type of musical instrument. Sleeping in and resting doesn’t appear to be high on their list of priorities. A trip to the Tianjin Cultural Center is another opportunity to see seniors in action. The vast majority have brought their grandchildren to play.