Outlook for the Future

2 min read

The challenges of population aging are daunting for any country，but especially so for China.Unlike developed countries where economic development preceded population aging，China faces the massive demands of population aging at one of the fastest rates ever and while its economy is still not fully developeence，without the funds necessary to address the demands.Chinad’s dilemma is how to allocate resources among competing needs of various sectors while still continuing its economic growth.

In addition to the 4-2-1 problem，trends in both the female labor-force participation and the sex ratio of young Chinese may well create additional issues for a society which traditionally has left elder care to its women，especially daughters-in-law.The labor-force participation among young Chi-nese women is very high and could affect the informal provision of long-term care in the coming decades.The sex ratio at birth for the young cohorts born after China’s one-child policy is highly skewed toward boys，potentially creating a future deficit of daughters-in-law as elder caregivers.

While the trend of population aging is inevitable and can even be accelerated by further declines in mortality and fertility，stemming the epidemic of chronic disease is one promising way to reduce the overall impact of aging on China’s social and economic development.Investing in a formal long-term care system to complement the informal care currently provided primarily by family members could also encourage their continued participation in the provision of care.Addressing these elder care challenges will be crucial to China’s continued social and economic development and stability.