Elderly Citizen Problems in China

Problems facing by elderly citizens are a universal topic throughout the planet since elderly people contributed a lot to the social development. As one of the members of the strongest developing countries, the elderly problem in China has become a public focus. It was predicted that in elderly population in China will reach 280millionin 2011, ranking first in the world. Therefore, establishing the health insurance system to improve the quality of life of old persons, and promoting physical and mental health of older persons is the current and future major issues we facing.(ref) However, it is not always easy to do that, especially in China, whose social security system is still in process. Apparently, it is time to pay more attention on this issue. This essay will firstly discuss the major problems facing with the elderly citizens in China financially, medically and mentally briefly. Secondly, some useful solutions will be provided.
Firstly, it is surprising to note that (ref)75% of elderly people worried about the future pension, which is low. “At the end of 2009, the total amount of pension is 2.25 trillion, only accounting for 6.62% GDP. However, the proportions in developed countries are from 40% to 50%. The government and related departments should really pay more attention on the elderly issue.” As mentioned above, the social security system in China is not fully developed. The existent pension system cannot cover widely and the fund management is dispersed. In some extend, it only focus on rural areas. Some of the elderly cannot enjoy their pension; it is mainly because the system cannot cover from urban to rural areas. In other words, the pension cannot be allocated to individual directly and efficiently. “In most of urban areas, the personal account is nominal. So the pension cannot be paid to the elderly in time. As result, it took a huge expenditure of related department to transfer to money to the elderly and the elderly still cannot receive the