Wang Bailing: To Care for the Elderly Is to Revere Life

The Fund will help develop public service programs for the elderly, support the building of old folks homes, specialist health centers, and the development of products for seniors. It will also present awards to institutes and individuals who have made significant contributions, and support health research and international exchanges in related fields.

So far, thanks to a number of donations, the Fund stands at more than RMB 10 million. Wang Bailing and her colleagues have been continuously modifying the operation of the Fund to create efficient communications between donors, Fund staff and beneficiaries, keeping the contributors informed of how their money is actually used and tackling the most practical and pressing needs of China’s old folks.

A Nation Getting Old Before Getting Affluent

China’s increasingly aging demographic provides the backdrop for the birth of the “99 Life Care Fund.”

According to statistics released by China National Committee on Ageing, in 2009 the country’s ageing population (referring to people over the age of 60) was 167 million, representing 12.5 percent of China’s total population. It is estimated that by 2020, the population of elderly will reach 249 million, representing 17 percent of the population. By 2050 one in every three Chinese will be over 60.

Wang expounded on this: “Ageing is a global trend, but China’s problem is that it will get old before getting affluent. Over the past several years, the government has done a lot to attend to its growing aged population, such as expanding coverage of the pension insurance system and building more elderly housing and ancillary facilities, etc. But the population is ageing at such speed it’s impossible to satisfy the burgeoning demand by relying solely on government finance.”

The traditional idea in Chinese society is that children take care of the parents when they get old, so family care for the elderly has been the norm. But the single-child policy has produced a family structure of “4-2-1” (four grandparents, two parents, one child), so the situation of more elderly but fewer kids is getting more and more serious. Currently, empty-nesters represent half of the total elderly population, and this directly impacts on their needs for daily care, medical service and their mental state.

As with most of her contemporaries, filial piety is deeply rooted in Wang’s heart. “When I was young, I had a fiery temper, but gradually I realized that respecting the elderly is a sign of self-discipline. My husband has said that whatever a 70-year-old says is correct, and I couldn’t agree more. Yes, for sure, they may be wrong, but that’s no big deal. Home is not the place to say who’s right or who’s wrong. Filial piety means being obedient, trying to understand and not to confront one’s elders.”

She continued: “The National Human Rights Action Plan of China, the first of the kind in the nation, lays special stress on guaranteeing the lawful rights and interests of the elderly and the development of the system serving them. Our Fund will serve China’s rapidly ageing society, supplementing the present public service for seniors.”

Exploring New Modes of Care

Of the Fund’s many planned programs, the first thing Wang is getting started on is care for dependent old people who are no longer able to fend for themselves.

In her view, the difficulty of finding care workers is a pervasive and urgent problem. She cited one paralyzed old person who has had almost 200 different care workers in 10 years. One-eighth of China’s elderly suffer from dementia, stroke, and various cerebrovascular and heart disorders. As a fallout of years-long medication and chronic occlusion they are often grumpy, so the attendants needed should have somewhat expert knowledge and utmost patience, and be prepared for the unexpected. The combination of high expectations and high risks has daunted many from entering this industry.

The Fund will sponsor training for care workers and the voluntary sector. Her plans to address shrinking numbers of paid care-givers also include helping raise their social status.

When in the U.S., Wang was impressed by the fact that many Americans of senior age are actively involved in social work as long as their health allows. It is common for retirees to do voluntary work at old-folks homes, taking particular care of residents older than themselves. “The head of the home I visited was also a retiree; he joked that he’d retired three times already. And the driver who took us around was also a senior, but very energetic and bouncy.” Wang Bailing was quite touched by this.

Wang knows some Chinese old folks over 100 years old who are looked after by their children already over 70 themselves. This made her think about the viability of the practice of the very old being cared for by the not quite so old. The Fund is poring over a program of encouraging this practice by granting