First, the status of China's aging population
China's aging is fast and sudden, ahead of industrialization and modernization, which will certainly bring severe challenges to China's economic and social development. Specific performance in the following aspects:
(1) The population of China is aging rapidly, and the absolute number of elderly people is growing rapidly. China is the country with the largest elderly population and the fastest growth in the world. Since 1980, the elderly population over 60 years old in China has been growing at an average annual rate of 3%. According to the prediction of relevant experts, it is estimated that the elderly population will reach 240 million in 2020, accounting for 17. 17% of the total population. By 2050, the number of elderly people over 65 in China will reach more than 320 million, accounting for15 of the total population of China and14 of the world's elderly population. China's aging level has advanced to. At the same time, the aging trend of the elderly population in China is becoming more and more obvious. It is predicted that the population aged over 80 will reach 56 million in 2040, and the first half of the 20th century will be the fastest period of population aging in China.
(2) There are still many shortcomings in China's response to the aging population, such as imperfect old-age security and service system for the elderly, unbalanced regional development and many other weak links. China began to implement family planning in the late 1970s, and the population growth rate began to decline. Today, the process of population aging has been completed, and the age structure of the population has changed sharply from "adult type" to "old type", and population aging is ahead of economic development. The society's ability to bear the aging population is relatively fragile, especially the existence of the dual economic structure between urban and rural areas, which makes the social old-age security system focus on cities and towns, while the coverage in rural areas is relatively narrow, and some elderly people lack due protection.
Second, China's aging population triggered by the pension crisis
Family support, collective support and social relief are the three main ways of providing for the aged in China. At present, family pension is still the main form of old-age security in China. Due to the grim situation of China's aging population, the large-scale elderly population and the rapid growth of the aging population, a series of pension crises have been triggered, mainly in the following aspects:
(1) There are phenomena such as "getting old before getting rich" and "empty nesters". "Get old before you get rich"-when developed countries are aging, the per capita GNP has reached1-30,000 US dollars. Among the 72 countries with an aging population in the world, 36% have a per capita GNP of 1 10,000 USD, and 28% have a GNP of 1 10,000 USD to 3,000 USD. However, in 2002, China only had more than 980 US dollars, and it entered the aging stage ahead of schedule, showing a situation of "getting old before getting rich". The number of "empty nest" elderly people has increased rapidly. There are fewer and fewer traditional families of "it runs in the family", and it is more and more obvious for a couple to support four old people and one child at the same time.
(2) The health status of the elderly is not optimistic, and the pressure of medical security is great. The elderly are important consumers of medical and health resources. According to the statistics of the Ministry of Health, the prevalence rate of chronic diseases in the elderly over 60 years old is three times that of the total population, and the disability rate is 3.6 times that of the total population. The health resources consumed by the elderly are 1 times that of the whole population. At present, the facilities for providing services for the elderly are seriously inadequate, the service items and contents are incomplete, the quality of service personnel is uneven, and the quantity and quality of services for the elderly are far from meeting the market demand.
(3) The weakening of traditional family support for the aged triggered the crisis of family support for the aged. With the increase of only-child families, the miniaturization of families and the development of market economy, the traditional family pension is facing challenges. Lack of spiritual comfort, abuse of the elderly, invasion and occupation of real estate, property and other phenomena occur from time to time, which have a great impact on the physical and mental health of the elderly. Some lonely old people should pay attention to the premature death caused by unattended.
Third, the countermeasures to solve the pension crisis in China's aging society.
Population aging is the product of economic, social and scientific development. To meet the challenge of aging population, we must proceed from the reality of China, make overall consideration, cooperate with each other, and explore ways to solve the pension crisis with China characteristics with the help of various forces.
(A) the participation of families and individuals, the establishment of channels for the elderly to express their own interests. The mode of providing for the aged, in which families and individuals participate together, can satisfy the wishes of the elderly to live a happy old age in a variety of ways to a certain extent. In addition, we will continue to improve the law on the protection of the rights and interests of the elderly and bring their needs into the legal track.
(2) Establish a community-centered welfare service system. Build a number of elderly welfare service facilities, improve the community elderly welfare service network, and incorporate the community elderly welfare service network construction into community construction to meet the various needs of the elderly at different levels. Develop a community-centered service system for the elderly, and gradually take the road of socialization and industrialization to alleviate the practical difficulties of the elderly and their families. We will change the single investment channel that relied mainly on state and collective investment in the past, and form a situation in which the state, collectives, enterprises and individuals invest in multiple channels and pension institutions of various ownership develop together.
(3) Government-led, social participation, universal care, and active aging strategy. In accordance with the goal of "providing the elderly with a sense of security, medical care, education, learning, security and happiness", we will implement the law on the protection of the rights and interests of the elderly and local laws and regulations for the elderly, formulate development plans and relevant laws and regulations for the cause of the elderly in different periods, and take practical measures to protect the legitimate rights and interests of hundreds of millions of elderly people and improve their quality of life. The government should vigorously advocate the social values of respecting, supporting and relying on the elderly, carry out moral education of respecting, supporting and helping the elderly among the whole people, and establish a good social fashion. Clarify the responsibilities of individuals, families and communities in social services for the elderly. Establish a basic medical insurance system for urban and rural communities, increase capital investment, and establish a medical insurance system specifically for the elderly.
To sum up, under the modern socialist economic system, the increasing number of elderly people has become an unavoidable social fact in China's aging society, and the key to easing and solving contradictions lies in the participation of the government, society, families and individuals. Constructing and perfecting the social service system for the elderly is not only related to the improvement and improvement of the quality of life of the elderly, but also related to the implementation of China's economic and social sustainable development strategy. The government's active aging policy, the public's active participation and the interaction between families and individuals will help to solve the crisis of providing for the aged in China, and realize the goal of "providing for the elderly, providing medical care for the sick, teaching and learning, doing something and having fun".