Shanghai’s over-60s now 4.14m strong
Print Edition
THE number of Shanghai residents aged 60 or more grew 6.8 percent last year to reach 4.14 million, or 28.8 percent of the permanent population, according to a report released by the Civil Affairs Bureau yesterday.
“The increase surprised us because it was slightly higher than our expectation,” said Yin Zhigang, director of the bureau-affiliated Shanghai Research Center on Aging.
Jing’an, Hongkou and Huangpu districts had the highest percentage of residents aged 60 or above among their permanent residents, all more than 30 percent, according to the report.
Yin said the increase in the population aged between 60 and 80 would continue until 2025, with a steady growth in those above 80. By then, the number of Shanghai’s over-60s is forecast to pass the 6 million mark.
Life expectancy in Shanghai dropped slightly last year to 82.29 years, compared to 82.47 the previous year, the report found.
“It is normal for a slight decrease, but Shanghai’s life expectancy has already kept above 82 years for five years, which is the level of developed countries, and it is likely that the expectancy will remain almost the same for some years without further rise,” Yin said.
The city had 1,631 centenarians by last year, 224 more than in 2013, with 1,236 of them women. The Pudong New Area and Xuhui and Huangpu districts had the largest number although Jing’an, Xuhui and Hongkou had the largest proportion, the report said.
This was because of better medical treatment, living conditions and diet, which offset factors such as pollution, said Sun Pengbiao, secretary general of the Shanghai Gerontological Society.
Across the city, there were 11.3 centenarians per 100,000 residents last year.
The aging population presents challenges in the care of the elderly in the city.
Shanghai had 966,000 elderly people living with family members who were themselves more than 60 years old by last year, and 246,300 senior citizens who were living on their own.
As the population ages and more families find it difficult to take care of elderly relatives at home, vacancies in senior care facilities have become hard to find.
The number of beds at 660 registered nursing homes in the city rose 6 percent last year to 114,907, or enough places for just 2.8 percent of the city’s over-60s, the report said.
Li Zhenggang, a Shanghai resident in his 80s, told Shanghai Daily yesterday that he had asked his family to find a nursing home for him and his wife, who suffers from dementia.
“I don’t like the idea of hiring an ayi because they don’t know how to take care of us as we found in the past, and we don’t want to cause burden on our children as they are not young,” he said.
Li said he hopes to find a nursing home in the downtown area with medical care facilities.
He was planning to have a look at a new nursing home converted from a hotel on Yuyao Road in Jing’an as soon as possible. “The shortage of senior homes in downtown areas is too acute. You must be very quick to secure a spot at senior nursing homes.”
Shanghai aims to have at least 159,000 beds for seniors at nursing homes and medical institutions by 2020. By then, a quarter of beds for senior care should be equipped with medical facilities.
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