China needs to work hard to support the old

时间：2007-08-14 06:12:42

（单词翻译:单击）

Chinanews, Beijing, August 14 –Though Wang Ming, 71, has a house of her own, she still wants to live in a nursing home, where there are nurses taking care of her at night. “My body needs massage1 every night ever since I had a stroke, but my sons all live abroad, so it is impossible for them to take care of me,” said Wang.

 

Nowadays, the traditional way of supporting the old by the younger generation of the family is no longer applicable in China. Besides, faced with the fast aging process in the country forces people to find a more reliable and economical way of old age care. Some of the elders wish to support themselves by the rent collected from properties; however, money can not solve all the problems.

 

Nowadays, there are 134 million people aged2 over 60 in China, about 10% of the population. It is estimated that the aging population will increase by 3.2% every year in the future. Thus China must work out a plan to deal with aging problems before it has become a developed country.

 

China has started to create a social old age support system, but there are yet no related policies and hardly any funds. Besides, many Chinese still have the outdated3 concept of old age care.

 

It is estimated that 5% of the elders might wish to live in nursing homes. That is to say, 6.7 million beds will be needed. However, there are only 1.7 million beds available in all the nursing homes in China at present.

 

Fortunately, private-funded nursing homes are booming in China, but they alone won’t be able to solve the problem.

 
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1 massage 6ouz43     
n.按摩，揉；vt.按摩，揉，美化，奉承，篡改数据
参考例句：
  • He is really quite skilled in doing massage.他的按摩技术确实不错。
  • Massage helps relieve the tension in one's muscles.按摩可使僵硬的肌肉松弛。
2 aged 6zWzdI     
adj.年老的，陈年的
参考例句：
  • He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
  • He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。
3 outdated vJTx0     
adj.旧式的，落伍的，过时的；v.使过时
参考例句：
  • That list of addresses is outdated,many have changed.那个通讯录已经没用了，许多地址已经改了。
  • Many of us conform to the outdated customs laid down by our forebears.我们许多人都遵循祖先立下的过时习俗。

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