Senior Care in China: Challenges and Opportunities

In 2012, China’s National Bureau of Statistics announced that China now has roughly 185 million people over the age of 60. A 2007 study by the United Nations estimated that in 2005 there were 16 retired people in China to every 100 workers. The study projected that this ratio will reach 64 elderly for every 100 workers by 2025. Today, government funding only covers 1.6 percent of seniors in need of care, who cannot otherwise pay for their own care. The World Bank’s standard for developed nations is 8 percent coverage. This translates to a need for an additional 3.4 million hospital and nursing home beds dedicated to senior care over the next five years alone. In addition, China’s massive rural to urban migration has left in its wake elderly parents and grandparents whose geographic distance from their children means China’s traditional cross-generational housing model will no longer be an option. The article examines opportunities for foreign senior care operators to develop aged care facilities in China.