Empty nest elderly is defined as: with the social and economic development, population mobility increases, the family structure is also changing, more and more elderly people live alone or elderly couples live together independently, children are adults and long-term absence, and no one else to take care of a new group gradually formed. As a result, a new group has gradually formed. According to data from the Ministry of Civil Affairs, more than 50 per cent of urban and rural families in China are empty nesters, with some large and medium-sized cities having 70 per cent of such families; about 40 million elderly people are left behind in rural areas, accounting for 37 per cent of the rural elderly population; and urban and rural families are in obvious lack of conditions for old-age care. Moreover, empty-nesting continues. Not only have a large number of families become "empty nesters" as a result of the rural young and middle-aged labor force going out to work, do business or go to school, but it is also very common for urban young and middle-aged people to go out to school, take up employment, and to live in other cities or in the same city separately. This has had a strong impact on the traditional family model of old age in China, and the life of the "empty nesters" has been characterized by a variety of problems that have gradually come to the attention of the general public.
(1) Loneliness and lack of care
This is the portrait of almost all empty-nested elderly people, because their children are either studying or working outside, or living in different cities or living in the same city, only when they have time to come back and get together with the elderly at home, so it can be seen that these empty-nested elderly people in the day-to-day life of how lonely it is. Almost all empty nesters are the same, usually only themselves and their partners at home or alone at home, there is no one to take care of, living and living on their own, and the elderly have some diseases so even more afraid to go out for fear of going out of the disease if fainted outside. In general, the basic facilities in the city are better than those in the countryside, and some elderly people can play cards together and go to the square to dance at night, but in the countryside due to the backwardness of the infrastructure, there is no fixed place of entertainment, so life is more monotonous.
(2) Empty Nest Elderly Spiritual Emptiness
It is because the empty nest elderly life is lonely, there is no recreational activities, so all the year round at home by themselves will be caused by the spiritual emptiness. Two old people together may be better, you can talk. But the partner died of "empty nest elderly" because of the age of the social circle becomes narrower, always alone, lonely, despondent mood increasing, which is the old man is most afraid of. If they live in loneliness and frustration for a long time, they are not only prone to mood disorders and depression, but also have a very negative impact on their physical health. These varying degrees of anxiety, restlessness, loneliness, loss, depression and other emotions, compared with physical harm such as disease, for many "empty nest elderly" is a greater harm. Often alone, seldom communicate with others, the elderly tend to be more prone to pessimism, and may even produce anorexia.
(3) The personal safety of the empty-nested elderly
On the one hand, the body of the elderly has been aging, and once an acute illness occurs and there is no one around to help in a timely manner, accidents will occur. And the empty nest elderly are living separately from their children, the city has a pension for the elderly is good at least have an economic source, and for the elderly in rural areas do not have any economic source only rely on their children, but in order to reduce the burden on their children, a lot of elderly people will hide their own condition, have a disease on the delay, procrastinate again and again, and often miss the best time. On the other hand, the elderly are more prone to accidents because of their limited mobility at home. Once the home is burglarized or other problems arise, the personal safety of the elderly is the biggest problem.
The Reasons for the Emergence of Empty Nest Elderly
(1) Population Aging and Increasing Elderly Population
In terms of the size of the elderly population, China has the largest number of elderly people in the world. According to the data of the sixth national census, the number of elderly people over 60 years old reached 178 million in 2010, the only country in the world with an elderly population of more than 100 million, accounting for 23.6% of the global elderly population. In terms of the speed of aging, China has the fastest growth rate in the world. "During the 12th Five-Year Plan period, China will usher in the first peak of the elderly population, with an average annual increase of about 8.6 million, and it is expected that by the end of the 12th Five-Year Plan period, the elderly population will reach 221 million, accounting for 26% of the country's total population. It can be seen that the number of elderly people in China has increased greatly, and the elderly population continues to grow. As China's elderly population continues to increase, a serious problem is the emergence of the "empty nest elderly" problem.
(2) The basic national policy of family planning
Now China has opened up the "two-child" policy, indicating that China's labor bonus has disappeared. Once the family planning policy was to have only one child, the population growth rate has slowed down, but the one-child family has caused a lot of problems, such as: the problem of lost elderly, the problem of aging, the problem of empty nests, etc. The only child family is the only family in the world, so the parents must be very happy with their children. Because there is only one child, so the parents must have high hopes for this one child, hope that he can eat the best, drink the best, go to the best school, so when the child goes to school after the parents to be at home alone, the child out of the school or the child outside the situation, resulting in the social phenomenon of the empty-nested elderly.
(3) Differences in the concepts of young people and the elderly
With the reform and opening up, China's society continues to develop, people's living standards continue to improve, and the city continues to develop. With the continuous development of big cities, the attraction for young people is increasing, and many young people prefer to realize the value of their lives in the metropolis. That's why in recent years, "North to Guangzhou" and other eastern cities have been attracting outstanding young people from all over the country. More young people prefer to live in the metropolis in order to pursue a life in the metropolis, preferring to live in the metropolis at a snail's pace, as ants rather than go back to their hometowns and accompany their parents, while the elderly in order not to delay their children's future will also be living alone.
There are also some young people who feel that there is a difference between the concepts and behaviors of the elderly and their own, in order not to cause unnecessary misunderstandings, so they will choose to live separately from the elderly. Some old people think that they have their own way of living, but there are also some old people who think that it is the young people who dislike them, so their mood is more depressed.
Three, the empty nest of the elderly to solve the countermeasures
(a) Improve the social security system, cultivate professional caregivers
Social security is a basic system to protect the people's lives and regulate the distribution of society. The government has the responsibility to provide free assistance to those special empty-nested elderly people who have no one to depend on and have difficulties in their lives, and to let these elderly people spend their twilight years in peace by means of institutional care; the state should cultivate and develop the market for elderly care services through the establishment of old-age welfare institutions and the construction of old-age welfare facilities, and utilize a combination of family, community and institutional care to relieve the empty-nested elderly people's plight of lack of daily and social care, and make the "empty-nested elderly people" feel more comfortable. This will relieve the plight of the empty-nested elderly who lack daily care and social care, so that the lives of the empty-nested elderly will not be in straitened circumstances, but will be taken care of and improved. At present, the level of professional services for the elderly in China is not high, and there is a lack of both professional management companies and a large number of professional caregivers. And with the increasing elderly population, must continue to explore the characteristics of the elderly to deal with the problem of aging professional services.
(2) make full use of community resources, and actively deal with the "spiritual empty nest"
We should encourage cities and rural areas to adapt to the local conditions of the construction of the elderly cultural venues. Regularly engage in some of the elderly people enjoyable entertainment activities, enrich their spiritual life, so that the old people's old age life colorful. Increase the construction of community venues, and at the same time train caregivers and volunteers. From the perspective of the actual needs of the elderly, provide various forms of free or inexpensive humanized services such as meals, medical care, and life care, so as to basically realize the requirements of the elderly to have assistance in times of trouble and to have help in times of need. Integration of villages, school buildings, and the use of rural cultural compounds, sports compounds, cultural bookstores, and other types of venues, integrates resources. Regardless of the form of utilization of the final result is to solve the problem of the elderly spiritual empty nest, so that depression, loneliness away from the elderly.
(3) Strengthen the "filial piety" culture propaganda, improve the sense of responsibility of children
While our country has formulated the law on the protection of the rights and interests of the elderly, to a certain extent, it will increase the young people's sense of responsibility, but this is not the fundamental measures to solve the problem. On the one hand, to promote family virtues, social morality, and increase the publicity of socialist core values, so that children consciously accompany their parents, support their parents, and assume their responsibilities. The government should publicize and reward those who have done a good job, which is a social orientation issue, guiding children to "see the wise and learn from the wise". To morally condemn those who do not do a good job to reform themselves, and ultimately form a virtuous circle. On the other hand, abide by filial piety is our traditional virtues, "filial piety" is the traditional virtues of the Chinese nation, can be in primary and secondary school textbooks to add more respect for the elderly and love the elderly content, so that citizens at a young age in the education of filial piety, which is twice the result with half the effort in the long term.