The Sandwich Generation

At a seminar on China's pension system, Yang Yansui, director of the Research Center of Employment and Social Security at Tsinghua University, predicted that starting in 2015 China's labor pool will shrink at an alarming annual pace of eight million, while the population of those aged 65 and over will swell at the same rate. By her estimate, by 2035 the Chinese population aged between 15 and 64 will fall to 810 million, while the aged class will hit 294 million. Then China will face the bleak scenario in which virtually every able-boded employed adult will support one elder while also raising a child. Dr. Yang therefore calls for an increase in government budget for social security.