Reflections on the problem of providing for the elderly with empty nests in rural areas

Reflections on the problem of providing for the elderly with empty nests in rural areas

With the development of modernization and aging in China, the phenomenon of empty nesters has become increasingly prominent. Empty nest family is a new phenomenon and social problem, which has attracted academic attention. Compared with the empty liangjiating in cities, the elderly in rural empty liangjiating can use less old-age resources, and the problem of old-age security is more serious, and it is easier to be ignored. Establishing and perfecting the rural social security system focusing on farmers' old-age security and medical security can promote the coordinated and sustainable development of rural areas and society, and is also an important aspect of "social construction focusing on improving people's livelihood". The following is my analysis of the problem of providing for the elderly with empty nesters in rural areas. Welcome to read the collection.

Population aging is the product of human economic and social development to a certain stage, and it is the main theme of population development in China in 2 1 century. Nowadays, it is an indisputable fact that the population aging is accelerating in China, and the most direct and realistic problem it brings is the problem of providing for the aged and the disabled elderly, especially the problem of providing for the elderly with empty nests in rural areas. At the beginning of 2009, the Report on the Situation of Rural Empty Nest Elderly and Empty Nest Families released by the National Office for Ageing showed that there were 32.88 million empty nest elderly and empty nest families in rural areas, accounting for 48.9% of the total number of rural elderly families. There are 47.42 million elderly people in empty nest and empty nest families, accounting for 43.9% of the total rural elderly population of 65.438+0.8 billion.

There are indications that empty-nest families will be the main model of elderly families in China in the 2nd/Kloc-0th century, and the life and mental state of empty-nest elderly people need social attention. However, the problem of empty nesters in rural areas has become a new topic for rural aging work in the new era and a new focus of rural society. How to solve their pension dilemma has become a universal social problem that needs to be solved urgently.

First, the problems faced by empty nesters in rural areas

Due to physical conditions and social reasons, the empty nesters in rural areas are in a weak position in economy, emotion and aspects, and face many difficulties and problems that need to be solved urgently.

(A) the labor and economic burden is heavier. Compared with cities, the level of economic development in rural areas is relatively low. With the acceleration of urbanization and urbanization process, a large number of rural youth go to work in cities, which makes the rural population aging increasingly serious. From June 5438 to February 2007, a follow-up survey of the urban and rural elderly population in China released by the National Office for Ageing showed that by the end of 2006, the number of elderly people aged 60 and over in China had increased to1490,000, accounting for1/0.3% of the total population. The number of pure old households (empty nest households) in the city is 49.7%, of which 8.5% are single old households, 4 1.4% are couples, and 50.3% live with other family members. There are 38.3% old households in rural areas, including 9. 6% are single old households, 29.0% are husband and wife households, and 6 1.7% live with other family members. Therefore, rural empty nesters face more difficulties than urban empty nesters in terms of quantity, economic conditions and external environment. Although the income of young adults who go out to work is higher than that of farmers, their financial support for the left-behind elderly is often very limited, so that most people have to rely on labor to make a living. Especially those old people, they have to bear heavy farm work and housework, and their participation rate is as high as 80%. At the same time, most of the children who go out to work will also hand over the contracted land to their parents for farming, which undoubtedly increases the workload of empty nesters in rural areas. They, who should have a good life, are really miserable.

(2) The physical condition of empty nesters in rural areas is worrying. With the increase of age, the physical function of the elderly declines, the health status declines obviously, and the prevalence rate also increases. According to statistics, the prevalence rate of empty nesters in rural areas is much higher than that in cities, with 27.2% in poor health, 65.5% in chronic diseases and 70%- 80% in chronic diseases. Many people are still sick. What's more, they have no pension and pension, 57. Among them, 8% people do not enjoy any form of medical insurance. Although rural medical cooperation has been implemented in many places, empty nesters have also participated in the new rural cooperative medical system, but many people can't even afford the fees below the minimum threshold. At the same time, the rural elderly generally have the psychology of "procrastination". On the one hand, they complain that the hospital charges are too high, and they take some cheap painkillers every time their illness breaks out, hiding their illness, preferring to suffer themselves rather than causing trouble to their children; On the other hand, out of thrift, they are unwilling to spend money to see a doctor. They always put off minor illnesses and die after a serious illness. Especially those with chronic diseases are faced with the dilemma of "keeping their jobs without pills, and keeping pills without jobs". In case of sudden illness and no one at home, you will miss the opportunity of treatment, which will lead to serious consequences that are difficult to cure.

(3) Lack of happiness, loneliness and helplessness. According to a survey conducted by China Science Research Center for Aging, there are about 654.38+000.4 million elderly people living alone in China, of whom 52.4% are living in difficulties, 654.38+08.4% need care, 53.6% are often lonely, and 265.438+0% are unhappy. 5% people have thought of suicide. Among the elderly who live alone and have no spouse, the proportion of feeling lonely is higher. Nowadays, many young and middle-aged couples go out to make a living, which aggravates the difficulties of empty nest and old-age care for rural families. After the young adults who go out to live with their children, the left-behind elderly people not only have their lives affected, but also have no minimum spiritual comfort. Left-behind elderly people, who are lonely for a long time, have unclear meaning of life, have less and less contact with the outside world, have nowhere to pour out their feelings, have time to spend, let alone enjoy the family happiness of their extended families, and are most likely to feel lonely. Coupled with the monotonous spiritual life in rural areas, "squatting on the wall, looking for shade, chatting and watching the fun" has become the life track of many elderly people. As for empty nesters, it is even more difficult to have spiritual sustenance, and most of them live a lonely life of "going out with a lock and entering with a lamp". They urgently need the exchange of ideas and communication, as well as the comfort of their families.

The generation gap leads to excessive burden. It is reported that the proportion of rural children who can't go out with their parents is as high as 56. 17%, while the number of left-behind children in rural areas aged 6- 16 has reached 2 million. These children are in a critical period of growth, and they are prone to various psychological problems because they can't get help from their parents in their ideological understanding and values. Most young people in rural areas work outside the home to make a living, and the task of reading and education for their grandchildren falls on grandparents. Taking care of the lives of grandchildren has increased the pressure on the lives of the elderly, who feel that the psychological burden of educating their children is even greater. This is mainly because they don't read much, they can't help their children with their studies, and they are worried that their children's academic performance will not go up. Now the countryside and communication have been greatly improved, and TV and Internet cafes are everywhere. As children stay out for a long time, they are worried about accidents. The other is intergenerational education, and grandchildren are not easy to manage. Many children are withdrawn and sometimes get into trouble. To this end, the old people always feel that it is beyond their power to take care of their children, fearing that they will complain if their education is not good.

(5) The contradiction between supply and demand of aged care services is prominent. At present, about 9.48 million rural empty nesters can't take care of themselves, accounting for 20%. ; 7.5% of the elderly need care. Among them, 1 1.3% of the elderly were not cared for, which was 8. It is 4 percentage points higher than that of non-empty nesters. Empty nesters mainly rely on their spouses to take care of them, accounting for 52.3%, and only 2.9% of empty nesters come to the homes of the state, collectives and pension institutions. In the vast rural areas, the old-age security for the elderly has always been provided by families, and the result of children going out is that children are not around when the elderly need care. Among the left-behind elderly, the proportion of unattended and spouse-free care is quite high. Once the elderly in empty nest families get sick, they have no children around to take care of their daily lives, and they don't have enough financial ability to ask a nanny to do it for them. At the same time, most of them can't get relatively stable financial support to resolve the disease risk and restore health. At present, the sudden illness and helplessness of lonely old people in various places are on the rise, and tragedies of poverty and illness and quiet death occur from time to time. Today, with the aging population, these tragedies are sounding the alarm: we must pay attention to and solve the problem of providing for the aged, especially for empty nesters, otherwise, it will be impossible to build a harmonious society.

In a word, the problem of empty nesters in rural areas has become a social phenomenon that cannot be ignored, which concerns thousands of families. Whether these problems can be properly solved is an important task in building a new countryside, building a well-off society in an all-round way and building a harmonious socialist society.

Second, the causes of the problem of empty nesters in rural areas

(a) Social changes have changed various relationships in the family. Since the reform and opening up, a large number of rural young adults have gone to work in cities, resulting in many rural elderly people staying at home unattended, leading to the emergence of empty nest families. Urbanization and the rapid development of urbanization, on the one hand, directly bring about economic development and personal income increase, which is objectively conducive to enhancing the economic payment ability of old-age security; On the other hand, it directly changed the single mode of production, prompting more young and middle-aged children to seek development opportunities outside. The radius of their departure from home is expanding and the time is prolonging. The strengthening of professional relations leads to the relaxation of family relations and the dilution of blood relations, thus promoting the tendency of intergenerational separation. The emergence of new houses in rural areas has created objective conditions for separation.

(2) Aging and fewer children make it less and less common for generations to live under the same roof. Since the 1970s and 1980s, the fertility rate has dropped significantly, and a good concept of child-rearing has gradually formed, resulting in a large number of families with fewer children and only children in rural areas. The shrinking family size has also tilted the intergenerational center of gravity, and the phenomenon of "pampering the young and hating the old" has risen. It is predicted that by 1930s and 1940s, 60% and 70% of the only-child parents in cities may not live with their married children when they are old, while 30% of the only-child parents in rural areas may not live with their married children when they are old. At present, the generation born in the 1970s and 1980s has entered adolescence. Under normal circumstances, they spend less time with their parents after marriage, and they are more likely to be separated from their parents at the time of marriage or one or two years after marriage. As a result, the modern family structure in rural areas is dominated by the relationship between husband and wife, marriage is more important than blood source, and more compound families are divided into empty nest families and nuclear families.

(3) The influence of modern values has intensified. In the transitional period, the values of modern people have a great impact on traditional families, and the tradition of "filial piety first" has been challenged. Facing the economic tide, the younger generation pays more attention to economic relations. The status of family members no longer depends on their age and experience, but on their ability to obtain economic resources, their influence on decision-making and their network of relationships. And all this is precisely the relative lack or reduction of resources for empty nesters in rural areas. This indirectly promotes the repositioning of family members' roles and further intensifies the emergence of empty-nest families. The change of modern family structure, the increase of nuclear families and the popularization of modernity have affected the society in which empty nesters live in rural areas to varying degrees. Village public opinion and pressure are weakening day by day, and the paternal status of the elderly in rural families is disappearing or even disappearing. The lack of status has further led to the deterioration of the situation, making these empty nesters "vulnerable."

(d) It is difficult to change the long-term life concept of the elderly. Some young people who work in cities have bought houses in cities and are willing to "enjoy happiness" with their parents. However, urban life is a completely different lifestyle from rural life, and it is difficult for many rural elderly people to adapt to urban life. High-rise apartments in the city and relatively weak interpersonal relationships make some old people miss their long-lived rural life. Although some rural elderly people want to live with their children, they feel that there are differences in their lifestyles and values, and choose to return to the countryside to avoid conflicts with their children's lives. In short, for most rural elderly, they prefer to stay in the countryside. Therefore, in addition to a large number of young and middle-aged parents who have not made much progress in urban work, even a few young and middle-aged parents who have gained a firm foothold in the city are likely to stay in the "empty nest" in the countryside.

Third, suggestions to solve the problem of providing for the aged in rural empty nesters.

It is an important task to solve the problem of providing for the elderly with empty nests in rural areas and to provide them with a sense of security, which is also an important content of building a harmonious society in China. Fundamentally speaking, the solution to the problem of providing for the elderly with empty nests requires long-term coordination and cooperation between government departments and all walks of life.

(A) to speed up the rural social pension, and gradually realize the socialization of rural pension. Socialized old-age care is a system that adapts to modern society and effectively disperses risks. At present, the elderly in rural areas still rely on their families to provide for the elderly, and their children's going out to work can't bring good economic assistance, which means that if the left-behind empty nesters rely solely on their families to provide for the elderly, the risks and unpredictability are greater. After more than ten years of pilot implementation, although there are still many difficulties and challenges in actual operation, as long as the rural old-age insurance is constantly adjusted and improved on the basis of experience and lessons, combined with the actual situation in rural areas, the elderly in rural empty-nest families can gradually benefit from it.

(2) Strengthen the guidance to rural communities and give full play to the role of communities in providing life care and spiritual comfort for empty nesters. In rural areas, there are frequent neighborhood contacts and close interpersonal relationships, and the community formed on this basis has strong cohesion. It can better mobilize community members to support each other, realize the optimal allocation and rational utilization of old-age resources, and play a huge positive role in the old-age security for empty nesters. For example, provide daily life care and life care services such as hourly work, cleaning, food delivery and bathing for the elderly who can't (don't want to) go out; Establish community housekeeping service stations to help them adjust and maintain their physical and mental health and get rid of the shadow of empty nest syndrome; You can arrange staff to do farm work for the elderly who can't take care of themselves and are sick in empty nest families, and provide them with accommodation and care; Organize community health service departments to regularly visit empty-nest families, carry out health checks, establish health records for the elderly, provide targeted medical care, provide health care, nursing and home visits on a regular basis, set up family beds, provide medical treatment, exercise and other services, and reduce unnecessary troubles brought to their lives by going to the hospital; We can enrich the spiritual life of empty nesters through mass media such as radio, newspapers and magazines or holding entertainment activities, so as to reduce their loneliness and help them establish healthy behaviors.

(3) Pay attention to family support, carry forward the fine tradition of respecting the elderly and loving the young, and advocate good manners. Family support for the aged is a traditional mode of providing for the aged in China, and it will still occupy a dominant position in the future. Governments at all levels should vigorously advocate the wind of respecting the elderly, carry forward traditional virtues, commend and respect the advanced elderly, and condemn unfilial behavior. Let the concept of "every family has an old man, and everyone should be old" be deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and let the children's obligation to support and take care of the elderly be implemented. Of course, we emphasize family pension, and its main connotation is that children do their duty to support and the forms of pension are becoming more and more diversified. We can't simply regard "home care for the aged" as family care for the aged or "nursing home care for the aged" as social care for the aged, because both of them are just the forms of the place for the aged, and they don't explain the sources of support for the aged. Under the premise of children's obligation to support, "no separation" is also a family pension model worthy of attention, but separated children should "go home often" to help their parents do some housework, communicate their feelings and take care of their lives. In addition, filial piety education activities should be carried out in primary and secondary schools, and the traditional virtues of filial piety and respect for the elderly should be cultivated from an early age.

(4) Improve the social adaptability of rural empty nesters, expand their social fields and encourage them to actively participate in social activities. Many elderly people have no hobbies and are unwilling to participate in social activities and public welfare activities, which can only increase their sense of loneliness and is not conducive to their physical and mental health. Therefore, it is very important to cultivate their hobbies and enrich their later life. The elderly in empty-nest families spend more time in leisure and loneliness, so we can encourage them to engage in social activities that they are interested in, increase venues and facilities suitable for the elderly, and also vigorously organize young people and younger elderly groups to serve the elderly and realize interaction, which has a positive effect on maintaining the physical and mental health and happiness of empty-nest elderly people of different ages.

(5) Increase investment and formulate support plans. First, the financial sector should increase investment in aging work, vigorously develop the cause of aging, and strive to create conditions for the elderly to enjoy their old age. The second is to increase financial support for townships and village (group) communities, effectively improve working conditions, constantly improve service functions, and vigorously improve service quality. Third, it is necessary to further improve the treatment of village (group) community cadres and staff, ensure that all work is done and willing, improve work enthusiasm, and stimulate work enthusiasm. The family problem of empty nesters is a comprehensive problem involving family, community, society, government and individuals, which requires the joint efforts of family, community, society, government and individuals. In the face of the rapid aging trend, it is not enough to rely solely on home-based care for the elderly. On the basis of actively promoting home-based care for the elderly, we should appropriately develop welfare facilities, such as building nursing homes and special nursing homes for the elderly, carrying out hospice care projects, and establishing activities facilities for the elderly to meet their different needs. In addition, the government needs to further improve the social security system, so that rural empty nesters can also enjoy good care and love.

(6) Establish various community non-governmental organizations to create a warm family atmosphere for rural empty nesters. For rural empty nesters, the difficulty of material life is one aspect, and the problem of spiritual emptiness and loneliness is another aspect worthy of attention. Therefore, on the one hand, we should give full play to the role of the association of the elderly, and use this platform to organize the elderly to carry out neighborhood mutual assistance and pairing activities, so that some elderly people who can talk and trust each other can form mutual assistance partners, communicate with each other, enhance their feelings, and reduce their spiritual emptiness and loneliness; At the same time, we should integrate social resources, organize and mobilize young volunteers to help empty nesters, solve their daily problems and relieve their loneliness. On the other hand, in order to give full play to the function of community service, we can use the community activity center for the elderly to establish a chat tea bar, a love hotline for the elderly and a health education base for the elderly. For some communities that haven't established yangko teams and fitness parks for the elderly, we should actively strive for funds and establish them as soon as possible to meet their diverse spiritual and cultural needs and create a good living environment for empty nesters to spend their old age safely.

Empty nesters in rural areas are a relatively weak group in society. It is difficult for them to rely on their own strength to solve the problem of providing for the aged, and they need to mobilize the whole society to participate extensively to realize their desire to enjoy their old age. In my opinion, as long as the whole society and Qi Xin work together to create a good environment for the elderly in rural areas, empty nesters in rural areas will no longer be a heavy topic.

Fourth, the background of empty nesters in rural areas.

1, the population is aging.

The trend of population aging is a serious social problem faced by China in recent years. Since the 20th century, with the improvement of people's economic living conditions and the continuous development of medical and health undertakings, the average life expectancy has generally increased. Due to the influence of China's family planning policy, the population growth presents a pattern of "low birth rate, low mortality rate and low natural growth rate", with nuclear families and main families becoming the mainstream, the number of joint family decreasing and the proportion of the elderly population rising continuously. In contrast, the rural population is aging more than the urban population, and the problem of providing for the elderly with empty nesters deserves our deep consideration. The number of empty-nest families will continue to increase in the future.

2. Sustainable development of urbanization and industrialization

In today's society, due to the acceleration of urbanization and industrialization, the economic level difference between urban and rural areas is widening day by day, and the development of secondary and tertiary industries in cities needs a lot of labor force to attract rural labor force to transfer to cities. Since the 1980s, the jurisdiction of the household registration system has been relaxed, the rural population movement has become more convenient, and it is easier for young and middle-aged people to stop in cities, which has accumulated over time, forming a situation in which rural elderly people stay behind and their children go to work in cities. In addition, due to the convenience of medical care and education in cities and towns, rural people choose to settle in cities after work, with a small number of returning population and serious polarization, and there are naturally more and more empty nesters.

3. The influence of social atmosphere and personal concept

With the development of the times, the traditional concept of "filial piety" has been impacted, the rural population's concept of providing for the aged has gradually changed, intergenerational communication has decreased, and the traditional parental status has been weakened. In order not to cause trouble to their children, some rural elderly even choose to move out voluntarily, forming a pattern of "empty nesters" and spending their independent and free old age. At the same time, after children go out to work, the "generation gap" with the elderly increases, and there are fewer opportunities for face-to-face interaction. Because of social mobility, the gap between children and parents in values, ways of thinking and behavior habits has also led to the shift of professional work from work to labor behavior in different fields. Children's concept of promoting filial piety is weakened, and the influence of money worship, hedonism and individualism in society is enhanced. Many children not only do not take the initiative to support the elderly, but take this kind of thing as a burden to escape.

Looking at the situation of empty nesters in rural areas in China, it can be divided into "active" and "passive" situations. The "initiative" situation comes from the personal wishes of the elderly. In this case, they generally have certain self-care ability and relatively good independent income conditions. The elderly in a "passive" state still have deficiencies in income and living conditions.

Fifth, the problem of providing for the aged faced by empty nesters in rural areas.

1, with low material and economic conditions.

Compared with urban empty nesters, the average annual income and consumption level of rural empty nesters are relatively low. In addition, the legal income of empty nesters in rural areas in China is mostly personal labor income, including odd jobs, weaving, picking up waste products and so on. And compared with government subsidies, the child support ratio is relatively low. When children can't support them, the old people's working ability is gradually weakened, their income is reduced, and more comprehensive problems such as declining quality of life and illness appear. Individuals enter the decline period of life cycle earlier and lack effective means to maintain their personal life. Empty nesters in rural areas are under great economic pressure and labor intensity. Considering their own conditions, they belong to the social vulnerable groups and face a severe situation.

2. The medical and health conditions are backward.

Although rural medical and health undertakings have developed in recent years, there is still a certain gap compared with cities and towns. Due to the long-term high-intensity labor activities and their follow-up effects, there are more or less some diseases in rural empty nesters, which need to be treated effectively as soon as possible. In rural areas, the lack of medical facilities, the shortage of relevant talents and the imperfection of relevant systems make it difficult for rural empty nesters to see a doctor. At present, rural medical security needs to be constantly improved and developed to meet the needs of relevant groups.

3. Psychological comfort.

Due to the lack of cultural and recreational conditions, a happy spiritual life is very important for the empty nesters in rural areas. In our traditional culture, there is a saying that "raising children to prevent old age". Old people generally yearn for a "full house of children" life, but often they can only live alone, and the communication with their children is also relatively lacking, and the communication with their neighbors is also relatively lacking. Poor personal mental health and great pressure will also affect real life.

4. Personal life problems

The old man is in poor health in his later years and needs careful care. Because individuals live alone, empty nesters have poor coping ability and prominent safety risks when faced with unexpected situations such as falling and getting sick. And their personal and property can not be effectively protected, such as lack of effective coping ability in the face of illegal and criminal accidents, lack of means to seek assistance, lack of cultural and entertainment projects, lack of spiritual sustenance and so on.

To sum up, most of the reasons for the problem of providing for the elderly with empty nesters in rural areas in China lie in the imbalance of urban and rural economic development, the number and restrictions of jobs make it difficult for children to return home after long-term work, and the poor medical and health conditions cause problems such as "it is difficult to see a doctor and treat a disease". The elderly also have a weak sense of self-care and little communication with their children, which together form an unfavorable situation and need the government. Individuals and society help each other in many ways, otherwise, it will not only be detrimental to the rural economic development in China, affect the related consumption level, but also be detrimental to the construction of a harmonious new socialist countryside.

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