Have a sharpen intro.
Too repetitive. Make it more concise. Language more precise.
Write about historical about one-child policy, When discuss one child, Discuss
late 70s. Problems in history.
Should have hard data. More data, details to readers
Maybe talk about capitalism system. Social problems: Family cohesion
Culture factors. Diverse, different culture.
Reduction in birth rate….
Culture: Higher living standards, birth rate drops.. Germany, Japan.. the population
shrinking.
Politics, economy, policies, migration.
Do not only quote author and date, also include page numbers
Use footnotes
Make it easier for reader to follow
Research Questions
What is the impact of the aging population in China?
1
What factors contribute to aging population in China?
Research Objectives
1: To examine the impact of the aging population in Urban China
2: To identify the factors those contribute to aging population in China?
Aging Population in China
The economic development of China since the year 1980 has emerged as a result
of various social and economic transformations a fact that has also contributed to the
sporadic rise in income inequality. Regarding the population of the country, it is
imperative to ascertain that the population of the country is rising at a faster rate as
compared to, other countries. Research studies have also evidenced that the aging
population of the country is on a dramatic rise. This research paper provides an in-depth
analysis of the problem and its influence on the China’s aging population.
The aging population globally
Aging population has been a significant challenge to many countries.
According to a report by the United Nations, the number of older persons aged 60
years and above is expected to double by 2050. This means that the population that is
2
currently approximately 962 million globally in 2017, it is expected to reach 2.1
billion by the year 2050 (Jiang et al., 2016). Based on global statistics, population of
individuals aged 60 years and above has been increasing rapidly than all younger age
groups. This means that there will be a significant social and economic problem
considering high level of dependency from the older population on young individuals.
Some of the countries that have a high aging rate in the world include
japan which has 26% of its population 60 years or older. The rate is expected to rise to
32.5% of the total population in 2030. Other include Italy having 22.4%, Greece
21.4% and Germany 21.1% of the population which is 60 years or older (Ellison
et.al., 2016).
The aging population in China
China is one of the countries in the world that is having significant
economic development. The country has been able to integrate vital policies in
ensuring that they have a strong economy, which can form the basis under which
crucial development decisions can be made. However, despite high-level focus on
economic development, China has a serious issue to deal with. The aging population
3
in China is a great source of concern considering the large population of the country’s
population that is old. In the year 2012, the number of Chinese citizens who were
aged 60 years and above was estimated to be 185 million which 13% of the total
population. The increased number of elderly people in China has created significant
impact on a number of aspects including economic development and positive
wellbeing of the entire Chinese society (Woo, 2013). Therefore, the effects of aging
population in this case will be discussed based on its influence on the economy as
well as the Chinese society.
Influence on the economy
The Chinese economy is rated among the best in the world and thus the
country is putting in place crucial measures to ensure that the economy is sustainable.
However, the population distribution is increasing creating a barrier to attaining a
sustainable economic development especially the increasing aging population within
the country. The development of the economy is usually depended on the supply and
demand in the society.
Supply can effectively create as well as driving demand, and thus they
4
coexist to ensure that there is a better societal focus. Supply and demand, therefore,
must effectively work together in ensuring that there is economic development.
Therefore, the influence of the aging population can be considered as the influence of
aging population on labor input, capital investment, and technological progress
among other key factors that influence economic development directly (Jiang, Yang,
& Sánchez-Barricarte, 2016).
Reduction in labor force
The influence of an aging population is a decline in the proportion of the
working age population. The drop in labor leads to a consequent decline in supply and
demand that are detrimental to economic development. Economy growth is based on
the strong supply of labor, which can maintain and improve the existing levels (Smith,
Strauss, & Zhao, 2014). When many people retire, it means that there is less strength
to foster the development of the economy. The working population in China is
between 15 and 64 years old. The fact that the majority of the workforce are in their
50s, there is significant concern regarding the ability to stabilize the economy and
deal with this impending economic influence. This means that the country needs to
5
focus on alternative measures to stabilize the economy at the end such as integration
of technology to subsidize on the reduced labor force (Zhao, 2016).
Increase in cost of labor
The increase in the cost of labor as developed in this case is based on
the underlying focus on reduction in labor force. When the proportion of working
population decreases, there is a critical understanding that the impact will have a twoway influence where there is a likelihood of an increase in the cost of labor. The
Chinese labor force is currently affordable considering the fact that there are still
relatively many workers although the high number at which individual is leaving the
workforce due to retirement is alarming which will create deficiency in the labor
market that in turn will push up the cost of labor automatically (Fang et al., 2015).
It is very difficult to control the increase in the cost of labor when
there is less experience in the labor market. Forces of nature, therefore, dictate the
increase in the cost of labor. The Chinese economy has been build based on cheap
labor that is expected to sustain its development focus. The reduction will create a
very difficult environment where it will be very difficult to counter the slide.
6
Decline in national saving rate
Accumulation of capital mainly comes from investments while
investments rely majorly on savings. From a general perspective, the national savings
rate of any given country is a vital indicator to measure the level of savings and the
possible investment growth. Many people are more likely to save more money when
they are young to secure their future. This means that it is very rare for old people to
save hence leading to declining in the national saving rate. The elderly population
constitutes a consumer population that will automatically lead to high rate of
expenditure and reduced focus on investment. A country that has a declining saving
rate is largely unstable since there is a crucial focus on borrowing funds from other
sources to ensure that the elderly are comfortable (Jiang et al., 2016).
One child policy
The official implementation of the policy began in the year 1980 with an open
letter that was issued by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. The
letter provided a detailed focus on the key issues that the high population was having
on the country. Some of the key elements that were outlined in the letter include the
7
population pressure on the country, which led to strained resources across all sectors,
which made it very difficult for the people of China to have better standards of living.
One child policy provided crucial steps that would be taken to ensure that there
was limited population growth with the target being to bring the population below the
1.2 billion people at the end of the 20th century. The key focus, in this case, was
aimed to ensure that there is a better environment under which it would be possible
for the people of China to a have environment where they would be able to develop.
The strained resources created a very difficult environment where social amenities
such as education and healthcare were very difficult to attain (Zeng & Wang, 2014).
The implementation of the one-child policy in China has had both positive and
negative implications. The enforcement of the policy led to a series of controversies
around the world even though there was the need to put policies in place to curb the
rising population growth in a country, which was significantly struggling to sustain
itself. Other countries across the globe adopted relatively sustainable policies although
the Chinese situation required high-level focus where the population would have been
highly reduced. The implementation of the one-child policy has left the country with a
8
sustainable economy although the high population in the country is made up of the old
citizens. These developments place the country in a precarious situation with a
significant need to maintain its current economic status in order to offer its citizen
comfortable lives through improving social structures and infrastructure (AO, JIANG,
& ZHAO, 2016).
Many of the elderly are in rural places, and thus the high focus on rural-urban
migration has left this population at a high risk considering that the young individuals
who are expected to take care of the aging population are moving to urban centers in
search for better opportunities. The aging population is considered as a burden since
most of them are entirely dependent and thus the inability to focus on developing care
centers for the elderly has created a very difficult environment where it is difficult to
ensure that their wellbeing is protected.
The manner in which the one-child policy was being implemented made it
difficult for parents to raise their children who were born contrary to the one-child
policy. Many parents who violated the one-child policy were forced to hide their
children from the authorities that mean that they were not enumerated and their lives
9
were miserable because the government only recognized only one child and thus its
budgetary limits were only focusing on a single child per a household. There existed
direct discrimination of the government to its citizens with the only reason being the
violation of the one-child policy. It is very difficult to develop a greater focus and
understanding in an environment under which the government fails to provide the
needed protection in ensuring that their citizens are well engaged.
Family values in rural China focus on Confucian filial piety. This basis
highlights the underlying fact that the adult children are responsible for supporting their
elderly parents. The unavailability of adult children who have migrated to urban centers
has significantly violated the underlying family values although from a social and
economic point of view it is very difficult to fault adult children who move to urban
centers leaving their elderly parents back at home. Development of one child policy
thus created a very difficult environment where it is very difficult for parents as well as
children. A family was only allowed to have one child and thus the wellbeing of
parents, when they grew old, was mainly a responsibility of their child. Therefore, the
child is expected to take care of his or her parents as well as ensuring that they secure
10
employment and advance their own lives (Siciliano, 2014).
In the year 2012, the number of Chinese citizens who were aged 60 years and
above was estimated to be 185 million which 13% of the total population. Among these
elderly citizens in China, approximately 67% of this population is in the rural setting.
This information is in contrast to the fact that there are many individuals in urban
centers than rural setting in China. This means that majority of these aging population
are on their own in the rural settings. Many young individuals, therefore, are unable to
have time for their aging parents (AO et al., 2016).
Despite a clear understanding that majority of the elderly individuals leave
without a care in rural centers, the government has been unable to provide focus on this
population by developing integrative policies such as setting up elderly nursing homes
where they can be taken. The government has a clear understanding of the fact that
most of its young population is living in the urban centers while the elderly are living
in rural areas (Démurger & Wang, 2016).
The implementation of the one-child policy in China has had a significant
influence on the well-being of the aging population since most of them are very much
11
exposed to diverse challenges in rural areas because they do not have anybody to take
care of their needs. The Chinese rural family values are based on understanding that
children should take care of their aging parents since it is their responsibility. The
erosion of these family values has created a very difficult environment where it can be
possible to have a positive engagement regarding the aging population.
Moreover, the implementation of one-child policy also created a significant
generational gap making it inevitable to have a higher aging population in China. The
Chinese administration did not put in place gradual measure to implement the onechild policy. This has automatically created a very difficult situation for the country
which now has a high number of its population made of the elderly. It has, therefore,
become very difficult for citizens especially considering the fact that majority of the
Chinese elderly depend on their children for support. This means that the integration
of single child policy means that a single child is expected to take care of their aging
parents as well help in national building which has become a very serious problem to
balance. The sharp declined in population means that in the long run, it will be very
difficult to have a better link-up between the old and young generations (Ellison,
12
White, & Farrar, 2015).
Higher life expectancy ratio
Life expectancy ratio is a vital tool that can be used in determining the health
levels of citizens. Life expectancy in China was 43 years in the 1950s. This meant that
there was a very low population of the elderly in the society despite having the largest
population in the world. The current life expectancy is 75 years. This means that an
average person in China leaves for 75 years. This shows clearly that there is very high
aging population due to increased healthcare and living standards which are making it
possible for individuals to live for a longer period. Therefore, the extension of life
expectancy ratio increased the number of the elderly people deepening the process of
an aging population (Zeng & Wang, 2014).
Declining mortality rate
China has been developed effectively focusing on crucial underlying social and
economic development where the living standards have increased. The increased
focus on healthcare has ensured that the total number of deaths are reduced. The
declining mortality rate is one of the factors that are leading to the increased aging
13
population since there are important healthcare interventions to provide quality
healthcare that is crucial in the overall growth of a given population. Development is
based on a variety of ways where there is need to integrate positive focus under which
it is possible to understand the growth patterns (Sun, Cao, Zhu, Liu, & Dong, 2015).
Conclusion
The aging population in China is a source of concern to both society and
economic development considering the significant influences that are caused by this
situation. Most of these consequences of an aging population are negative although
they are noticeable positive such as opportunities for fresh graduates. There is the
need for the Chinese government to put critical measures in place that will ensure that
there is less impact of the aging population both on economic and social development.
Technology integration offers new hope in limiting the overall influence of the aging
population on labor force although overall national expenditure is likely to be strained
as a result of a high number of dependents within the society. Therefore, there is need
for strategic planning where it would be possible to overcome the underlying
challenges caused by the aging population.
14
References
Banister, J., Bloom, D. E., & Rosenberg, L. (2012). Population Aging and Economic
Growth in China. In The Chinese Economy: A New Transition (pp. 114–
149). https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137034298_7
Ellison, D., White, D., & Farrar, F. C. (2015). Aging population. Nursing Clinics of
15
North America. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cnur.2014.10.014
Fang, E. F., Scheibye-Knudsen, M., Jahn, H. J., Li, J., Ling, L., Guo, H., … Ng, T. B.
(2015). A research agenda for aging in China in the 21st century. Ageing
Research Reviews. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.arr.2015.08.003
Jiang, Q., Yang, S., & Sánchez-Barricarte, J. J. (2016). Can China afford rapid aging?
SpringerPlus, 5(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40064-016-2778-0
Smith, J. P., Strauss, J., & Zhao, Y. (2014). Healthy aging in China. Journal of the
Economics of Ageing, 4, 37–43.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeoa.2014.08.006
Sun, R., Cao, H., Zhu, X., Liu, J.-P., & Dong, E. (2015). Current aging research in
China. Protein & Cell, 6(5), 314–321. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13238015-0145-5
Woo, J. (2013). Meeting the needs of an aging population in China: Public health and
policy implications. Journal of Clinical Gerontology and Geriatrics, 4(2),
31–32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcgg.2013.02.001
Zeng, Y., & Wang, Z. (2014). A Policy Analysis on Challenges and Opportunities of
16
Population/Household Aging in China. Journal of Population Ageing,
7(4), 255–281. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12062-014-9102-y
Zhao, M. (2016). Population Aging and Economic Growth in China. ProQuest
Dissertations and Theses.
17
Purchase answer to see full
attachment