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  3. China has the fastest-ageing population in human history but the state provides very little support for elderly people. Ageing p

China has the fastest-ageing population in human history but the state provides very little support for elderly people. Ageing p

admin2021-05-24  29
问题         China has the fastest-ageing population in human history but the state provides very little support for elderly people. Ageing parents have traditionally been looked after by their children—but in today’s China that is not always the case. The following news report gives details of this issue.
        Write an article of NO LESS THAN 300 words, in which you should:
        1. summarize briefly the news report;
        2. give your comment.
        "Who will take care of my aging parents?"
        Millions of people ponder that question regularly in China, a country with a demographic crisis that its leaders are only starting to confront. According to United Nations figures, nearly 200 million Chinese are now over age 60. Roughly half are "empty nest" parents living alone in rural areas. In the next 15 years, nearly one in four Chinese—more than 320 million people—will be 60 and older, including tens of millions of disabled seniors.
        In the past, Chinese elders could be assured that, when they were frail and no longer able to work, their children would look after them. But because of the government’s one-child policy and the migration of young people to urban jobs, China’s traditional system of elder care has been shredded. "The old people in their own homes are often not getting checks from their own children," said Timothy Beardson, author of "Stumbling Giant," a book that examines China’s looming challenges, including its demographics. "It is not a happy picture. It is a very gloomy picture."
        China’s government seems well aware that in a nation that is increasingly silver-haired and vulnerable, elder neglect is an ugly side effect of the nation’s economic miracle. Three years ago, the government even felt compelled to pass a controversial law, Protection of the Rights and Interests of Elderly People, that spelled out the obligations of young offspring.
        Yet unlike most industrialized countries, China doesn’t have an insurance safety net like Medicare to provide medical treatment for seniors. Nor does it have anywhere near enough nursing home beds to ensure care for the seriously infirm.
        Recently, a Chinese state media reported that there could be a 100-year wait to get into Bering’s top-ranked nursing home, as some 10,000 applicants were waiting for 1,100 available beds. The nation currently has about 4 million nursing home spots. There are roughly 30 million Chinese age 80 or older.
        "There are a lot of smart people in the government," said Beardson. "But are they going to be able to respond effectively to the challenges China is facing? I am not sure."
        A graying population is just one of the bumps China’s encountered as it speeds through the 21st century. As Beardson notes in "Stumbling Giant," the percentage of young people in China is shrinking, and with it, the work force that has powered the Chinese economy in recent decades. And while the government has recently loosened its one-child policy, surveys suggest that young urban families—facing high rents and concerns about college costs—have little interest in rearing more than one or two children.
        All that poses questions for China’s leaders: Can they keep the nation’s economic engine running without a large pool of low-paid workers? And how will it pay for health care and living costs of hundreds of millions of people who will enter their golden years in the decades ahead?
选项
答案 Who Will Care for the Elderly? China’s economic miracle has been fuelled by its demographic dividend, but that population bulge is becoming a problem as it ages. The paramount challenge, according to the report, is how to support and care for this vulnerable group. Due to the nation’s one-child policy and the migration of rural labors, the shrinking young adults are less able to financially and practically support their elders. On the other side, China’s healthcare infrastructure and social security system remain unprepared for a swelling aging population. Although the government has made some efforts, such as passing a law to stipulate the obligations of young offspring and relaxing its one-child policy, those are not quick-fixes. The crux of the matter lies in the development of a working system of senior care services that are accessible and affordable to the elderly. Then who is going to pay for this care? Based on the experience of developed countries, the basic security umbrella for the elderly should still be a social insurance network. Therefore, the government should invest vigorously to improve its poor social provisions for the elderly, build affordable nursing homes, expand the rural pension program and offer subsidized medical care for the elders. Paradoxically, China is going grey faster than it is growing rich. To finance the welfare of its aging population, it has to maintain economic growth. Besides, it is not sustainable to solely rely on the government for elderly care. As to the problem of underdeveloped healthcare infrastructure, China can relax restrictions on market entry, for example, inviting the private sector to build nursing homes and attracting overseas capital to China’s health care industry, including elderly care. It is a long-lasting combat with the grave task of caring for the grey population. Without a joint effort by the government, society, family and individuals, millions of old people will face a bleak future of poverty and illness.
解析         材料开篇指出文章讨论的主题——谁来照顾老人?第二段描述了中国老龄化现象加剧：十五年后，年过花甲的老年人口约占中国人口的四分之一（nearly one in four）。第三段分析老人老无所依的原因——独生政策和年轻人到城市就业。第四段说明老年人的生活困境（gloomy picture）。第五段介绍了政府的举措，颁布保障老年人权益的法律（Protection of the Rights and Interests of Elderly People）。第六段则分析了现存的一系列问题：老年人的医疗保险（insurance safety net like Medicare）尚未健全；养老院床位（nursing home beds）紧缺；老齡化的人口结构（A graying population）阻碍经济发展；面对高昂的住房和教育费用（high rents and college costs），人们的生育欲望低。
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