Issues and Prospects for the Elderly Welfare System in China: A Case Study of Two Private Non-enterprises in Hunan Province

This paper aims to examine the issues and prospects of welfare facilities for the elderly by private non-enterprises that are rapidly spreading in China on the data of two welfare facilities for elderly people in inland areas of China. Under the influence of government policy change in 2005, welfare facilities for the elderly tend to utilize the financial resources in the mixed form of private capital or community capital and government subsidies. As a result, the relationship between the social class and the management entity, and the social disparity between facilities has come to be seen in urban areas. The public facilities correspond to the lower class and the private facilities correspond to the higher class. In rural areas, successful facilities are based on mixed management that utilizes users’ personal assets, government subsidies and community resources. Although in the past, the elderly welfare facilities were limited to people requiring long-term care and nursing, recently they tend to accept independent aged people. In the background the current family-based welfare system has reached its limit. The concern has been increasing for the problem of a solitary couple or a couple elderly whose children flew out into the urban areas, and the one of children-only households whose parents go out for work into urban areas. On the other hand, the rural elderly welfare facilities are attempting to rebuild the support network for elderly people in the rural areas. Effective utilization of local community resources is the key to sustainable welfare system for elderly people in rural areas