Now the aging of population has become a very serious social problem in our country, which seriously affects the development of our society, economy and other aspects. What are the characteristics of China's aging population? Let's have a look at the current situation of China's aging data in 2019.
Analysis of China's aging population in 2018
At the end of 2017, the total population of Chinese mainland (including 31 provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the central government and the Chinese people's Liberation Army), excluding the Hongkong, Macao Special Administrative Region, Taiwan and overseas Chinese, was 1 billion 390 million 80 thousand, an increase of 7 million 370 thousand over the end of last year. From the perspective of age composition, the working age population aged 16 to 59 is 90.199 million, accounting for 64.9% of the total population; the population aged 60 and above is 240.9 million, accounting for 17.3% of the total population, including 158.31 million people aged 65 and above, accounting for 11.4% of the total population.
Trend of population aged 65 and above in China from 2005 to 2017
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In 2017, there were 17.23 million births, 630000 fewer than in 2016. At the same time, the degree of aging continues to increase, and the proportion of people over 60 years old and over 65 years old in the total population has increased significantly.
Trend chart of China's birth rate from 2005 to 2017
The aging degree of China's population is accelerating. In 2017, there were 240.9 million people aged 60 or above, accounting for 17.3% of the total population, including 158.31 million people aged 65 or above, accounting for 11.4% of the total population. The population over 60 years old and the population over 65 years old both increased by 0.6 percentage points over the previous year. It is estimated that by 2020, the elderly population will reach 248 million, and the aging level will reach 17.17%, of which the elderly population over 80 will reach 30.67 million; by 2025, the population over 60 will reach 300 million, becoming a super elderly country. Considering the increase of family planning work in the late 1970s, it is estimated that the aging process will reach its peak in 2040, and then the aging process will enter a deceleration period.
The number and proportion of population over 60 years old in China, 2007-2020
At the end of 2017, the total population of Chinese mainland (including 31 provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the central government and the Chinese people's Liberation Army), excluding the Hongkong, Macao Special Administrative Region, Taiwan and overseas Chinese, was 1 billion 390 million 80 thousand, an increase of 7 million 370 thousand over the end of last year.
Analysis on the characteristics of China's aging population
1. The absolute number of the elderly in China is large, and the development trend is rapid. According to the survey, 20% of the world's elderly population is occupied by China's elderly population. The average annual growth rate of population aging is about five times of the total population growth rate. From 2011 to 2015, the number of elderly people over 60 in China increased from 178 million to 221 million, and the proportion of the elderly population increased from 13.3% to 16%. Such a huge growth rate and quality of the elderly population makes China enter the aging society ahead of other countries.
2. Regional development is not balanced and urban and rural areas are inverted. On the one hand, in the 1970s, affected by the family planning policy of "less birth and better birth, late marriage and late childbearing", the fertility rate in urban areas was lower than that in rural areas; on the other hand, a large number of young rural labor went to the first and second tier cities, resulting in an increase in the number of elderly people in rural areas, especially the empty nesters and the elderly living alone, and an increasingly serious rural aging The development of aging areas is unbalanced, and urban and rural areas are inverted.
3. The aging trend is increasing. Du Peng [5], Professor of population and development research center of Renmin University of China, pointed out that the disability rate of the elderly is higher than other elderly people, and they need more care than other elderly people. The elderly are the most vulnerable group among the elderly, which is the key and difficult point to solve the pension problem. According to a survey, there is a new increase of 1 million elderly people in China every year, and this trend of substantial growth will continue until 2025.
4. The growth rate and proportion of the elderly living alone and empty nesters increased. With the accelerating process of urbanization in China, there are fewer and fewer traditional three generations living together in the family model, and more and more families tend to be small. In addition, with the accelerated pace of urban life, young children spend less time with their parents, which makes the traditional family pension function in China gradually weaken. According to the latest survey, it is estimated that by 2020, the number of the elderly living alone and empty nesters will increase to about 118 million, and the elderly living alone and empty nesters will become the 'main force' among the elderly.
The problems of China's aging population are as follows
In recent years, with the acceleration of population aging in China, the amount of supply and payment of the aging population has formed a great pressure on the young adults with a small proportion of the population. Social wealth creation and modernization can not meet the needs of the rapid development of the aging population. This leads to a big contradiction between economic development and population aging, especially in underdeveloped areas, economic development can not meet the needs of the elderly population, and many local fiscal deficits. In essence, the degree of population aging is not the determinant of social and economic pressure, but the security of aging population must have sufficient economic foundation and social resources. However, China's current situation still does not have enough economic foundation and social conditions, so the aging problem brings great pressure to the social and economic development. Relevant scholars predict that China will reach the peak of population aging in the next 40 years, which is also the peak of economic pressure, and social development will be under unprecedented pressure.
1. The impact of population aging on the physical and mental health of the elderly.
The elderly themselves are vulnerable groups in society. With the continuous growth of age, the immune function of the elderly will gradually decline, and their physiological functions begin to degenerate. Alzheimer's disease, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, rheumatism and so on are common diseases in the elderly. Due to the change of their own health status and social role, the elderly are often prone to a series of negative psychology and emotions, such as pessimism, depression, loneliness and anxiety. Nowadays, the family structure model is becoming smaller and smaller. Children are busy with work and do not care for the elderly at home, let alone spiritual communication. Therefore, many elderly people are in a poor mental state, and they are in a better position It needs the care and understanding of the society. The old people are a kind of valuable wealth of the society. As the old saying goes, "an old man in a family is like a treasure.". "The knowledge reserve and life experience of the elderly are worthy of our young people's learning, and the contribution of the older generation to the construction and history of the revolution is worthy of the whole society's admiration. The whole society should respect and love the elderly as a valuable asset. We should know that everyone will grow old. We should not treat every elderly with colored glasses. It is important to respect the old and love the young We should carry forward the traditional virtues of the Chinese nation.
2. The aging of population makes the problem of family support prominent.
Professor Yuan Fang of Peking University believes that it is not enough to solve the problem of China's aging by only relying on one aspect of strength. It needs the efforts of all parties and the combination of the state, society and family. Nowadays, most of the family structure model is the traditional '4-2-1' family, that is, four old people, husband and wife, and one child, which means that two children have to bear the obligation of supporting four old people, which virtually increases the burden of providing for the aged of family members. Moreover, under the impact of western culture, China's traditional concept of family has changed This phenomenon is particularly serious in rural areas. A large number of young and middle-aged rural labor force go to the more developed first and second tier cities to develop, which weakens the function of family support for the aged. To a certain extent, the problem of providing for the aged in rural areas is serious As a result, the development of urban and rural areas is not balanced, and China's pension problem is facing a bottleneck.
3. The aging of population has increased the economic burden of our country.
In recent years, with the acceleration of population aging in China, the amount of supply and payment of the aging population has formed a great pressure on the young adults with a small proportion of the population. Social wealth creation and modernization can not meet the needs of the rapid development of the aging population. This leads to a big contradiction between economic development and population aging, especially in underdeveloped areas, economic development can not meet the needs of the elderly population, and many local fiscal deficits. In essence, the degree of population aging is not the determinant of social and economic pressure, but the security of aging population must have sufficient economic foundation and social resources. However, China's current situation still does not have enough economic foundation and social conditions, so the aging problem brings great pressure to the social and economic development. Relevant scholars predict that China will reach the peak of population aging in the next 40 years, which is also the peak of economic pressure, and social development will be under unprecedented pressure.
4. The influence of population aging on social stability
With the acceleration of China's urbanization process and the increasing shortage of resources, the social economy is constantly shaking, which also further promotes the impact of population aging on social development. The process of urbanization promotes the rural labor force to transfer to the urban area. Although the accumulation of a large number of human resources makes up for the lack of young adults in cities to a great extent, it also brings great pressure to cities, such as resource shortage, employment pressure, social security and so on. At the same time, due to a large number of rural productivity transfer, the rural productivity is increasingly scarce, which presents a serious empty nest phenomenon. Many rural elderly people lack production capacity and production skills, and their economic income is extremely low. In addition, the base of the elderly population is increasing, and the rural social security in China is not in place, so it is difficult to effectively solve the problem The problem of the support of the aged population leads to the aggravation of the contradiction between the rich and the poor, and the potential threat to social public security and rural social stability.
5. The influence of population aging on Culture
Since ancient times, Chinese culture has highly praised filial piety. Filial piety has a strong idea of respecting the elderly in Chinese traditional culture. However, with the aggravation of China's aging population, the aging population is increasing. Due to the implementation of the family planning policy, most of the young and middle-aged people are only children, so they are unable to support and care for the elderly. In addition, the pace of modern life is speeding up, and people's life pressure is gradually increasing As a result, the old-age care model has gradually changed from "intention" to "money", and the traditional family concept of supporting parents has gradually changed into the idea of using material and money to support the elderly. The widespread existence of this situation has linked the essence of filial piety in Chinese traditional culture with economic resources, resulting in the gradual distortion and great challenge of China's 5000 year old filial piety culture.
The countermeasures to solve the problem of population aging in China are as follows
1. Carrying out the economic strategy of coordinated development with population
We should deal with the relationship between social and economic development and the problem of population aging as a whole, regard the problem of population aging as a major economic problem, and implement the economic development strategy coordinated with the problem of population aging. Firstly, we should implement the development strategy driven by scientific and technological innovation, constantly improve the social productivity, give full play to the role of scientific and technological innovation, and hedge the negative impact of population aging on economic development by improving productivity; secondly, we should expand the market