Shanghai speeds up social programs for seniors

Shanghai (CNS) -- Facing an ever-growing proportion of senior citizens in its population, Shanghai is busy developing old age support programs and promoting the investment of social capital to fund them and other related forms of social support.

A meeting held May 2 by local authorities revealed that Shanghai tops all China's cities for percentage of aging people.

By the end of 2011, Shanghai had 3.48 million people aged 60 or above, which means one in four Shanghai residents is now a senior, according to the latest official statistics released Thursday.

It has been predicted by a local authority that the city's aging population will accelerate between 2011 and 2015 to include 4.3 million aged 60 or above. As parents of the first generation of one child families grow old, they have been shaken to the core to realize that little replaces the tradition of elders relying on mature children as a safety net.

By the end of 2015, Shanghai plans to add 25,000 beds to old age homes bringing the total to 125,000, and to ensure 300,000 seniors, or seven percent of the total, enjoy care at home.