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April, 1998 (Issue No. 26) |
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The Elderly Council Study Tour to Beijing As Hong Kong has handed over to China, The Elderly Council has been actively try to increase the understanding on China, a 6-day study tour to Beijing was arranged by the Elderly Council through the Xinhua News Agency (Hong Kong Branch) in September 1997.
As aging population has now become a serious problem in China, under "The Law of Protecting the Rights of the Elderly", the Chinese Government has declared that caring for old people is a family responsibility.
The types of benefits and welfare for the elderly in China are not very well developed. Benefits and welfare are set according to different units and each province's economic resources. When requires, fund-raising events will be launched to collect a bigger budget.
In general, among elderly over 60 years old, only 15% benefit from a retire pension plan, 17% still have to work, and the rest all depend on family assistance. Therefore, the Chinese Government has launched a "Campaign for Helping the Old Adults", especially to help those who live in rural mountain areas and poor villages. On the other hand, a protection of security to the minimal living standard has been set up in cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou.
According to "The Law of Protecting the Rights of the Elderly", the Chinese Government should also provide benefits packages, such as free to travel by bus, free to go to parks, etc. to elderly who are 60 years of age or over. In Shanghai, extra pension is given to elderly who are 100 years old. There are altogether 100,000 activities centres for the elderly and 200,000 kinds of elderly facilities in China. Various social services for the elderly also include bathrooms, tea houses, hair salons and so on. Care-taker service centres are also available to provide different kinds of services to the elderly such as ironing and caring.
Hostels included apartments, social welfare institutions and homes for the elderly. The priority of acceptance derived from the 3 most deprived groups: homeless, incomeless, and no working ability. Besides, there are 8,000 universities for the elderly in China with approximately 700,000 students. Despite newspapers and magazines for the elderly, radio and television shows for the elderly, hospitals and clinics for the elderly are also available.
In conclusion, there is quite a difference between the lifestyle of elderly in China and in Hong Kong. The Elderly in China seem to have a richer cultural background and the way of treating elderly in 2 places is also different. And it will sure we have to take some time to lessen the difference. |