Population of 'empty nesters' takes off

A survey has found that more than 50 percent of polled residents over 60 are empty nesters, the city's statistics bureau said Tuesday.

The Shanghai Municipal Statistics Bureau, which polled 2,248 residents over 60 from across the city for the survey, found that empty nesters, which are parents whose children have left their home, accounted for nearly 54 percent of surveyed respondents, according to report on the bureau's website. The figure marked an increase from a survey conducted in August 2011, when only 40 percent polled were empty nesters.

The report found that 53.8 percent of respondents were elderly residents who lived alone or with their spouse. Of those seniors, about 44 percent lived with a spouse and 7.5 percent lived alone, the report said. There were more empty nesters in the suburbs than in the urban areas.

More than 85 percent of respondents who lived alone saw their children at least once in a month, which was 8.1 percentage points lower than respondents who lived with a spouse.

Meanwhile, nearly 8 percent of empty nesters only saw their children less than once a year on average, suggesting that these seniors longed for attention, said the report.

Apart from this, the report also found that more than 99 percent of respondents relied on a pension as their primary source of income. Their other sources of income included personal savings, allowances from their adult children, government subsidies and the rent income.

About 62 percent of the respondents earned more than 2,000 yuan ($331) a month, the report said.

Nearly 80 percent of respondents said they were satisfied with the city's public transportation system, which is free for residents over 70 years old.