Isolated and abandoned: the heartbreaking reality of old age in ruralChina
By Matt Rivers and LilyLee, CNN
Updated 0925 GMT (1725 HKT) February 8, 2019
Beijing (CNN)For Qin Taixiao, old age is atime of loneliness and back-breaking labor.
Every day in winter, the ailing 68-year-old wakes early,collects 50 kilograms (110 pounds) of firewood from the nearby forest, andhauls it home on his back. He does it again in the afternoon.
Burning wood instead of coal is a cheaper way to stave off thefreezing temperatures of the northern Chinese winter.
Qin and his wife, Sun Sherong, have spent the past year almostentirely alone. They live in an isolated and largely abandoned village about240 kilometers (150 miles) from Beijing.
Between his trips to the forest, Qin manages his emphysema andcolon cancer with the meager amounts of drugs he can afford.
"What can I say?" he says. "Life's all right.There is no other way."
68-year-old Qin Taixiao gathers two bundles of wood every dayfrom a nearby forest to save on heating costs.
His steely stoicism fades only when talking about his favoritetime of the year -- the Lunar New Year. The week-long holiday is the only timehe sees his three children.
Like many others, Qin's children left the village years ago tofind work, joining the relentless current of China's great urban migrationspurred by its economic boom. Hundreds of millionshave moved to cities in recent decades, leaving behind emptyvillages.
Qin's problems are typical of those facing millions of families.China's population is aging extremely quickly, and many elderly people aren'tsure if the country or their children will be able to support them.
Qin Taixiao (right) and his wife Sun Sherong have spent almostthe entire year alone in their secluded village.
By 2050, more than 34% of China's citizens are projected to bemore than 60 years old,according to thecountry's National Working Commission. That willamount to almost 500 million people, nearly twice as many as today.
The nationwide effects of a decline in the working-agepopulation could be drastic and wide-ranging. Experts have long warned Chinacould "get old beforegetting rich" as the aging populationbecomes a drag on economic growth.
And with fewer working people contributing to the government'scoffers, the stress on Beijing's finances will become increasingly acute.
Study: China faces 'unstoppable' population declineby mid-century
"For the next few years, the number of elderly people willgrow by millions annually, indicating that each year, fewer and fewer peoplewill be contributing to social welfare that will have to be shared across agreater number of recipients," Yuan Xin, director of the Nankai UniversityAging Development Strategy Research Center, told Caixin, a Chinese financial magazine.
Not only will the government be stretched providing for theelderly, some studies suggest that citizens themselves aren't saving enough fortheir own retirement.
At the end of 2017, Chinese workers collectively held around $1trillion in savings, according to the Ministry of Finance. Coming in at about$4,000 per person over age 60, that's likely not enough for a country soon tohave hundreds of millions of retirees.
Chinese officials estimate that by 2050, more than 26% of GDP will be spent on elderly care, up from just over 7% now.
One reason for the lack of savings is cultural. Parents havegrown up in a society where traditionally the elderly relied on family to covertheir retirement.
Children and grandchildren are supposed to financially supporttheir older relatives. But with fewer young people around, the burden on theirgenerations is growing unbearable.
In 1993, there were five working-age people paying into thesocial security system for every one person withdrawing from it, according tothe Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.
By 2050, that's expected to shrink to just 1.3 to 1.
China moves to end two-child limit, finishing decadesof family planning
The rapidly aging population is largely due to China's notoriousone-child policy. Birth rates plunged after it was introduced in 1980, leaving youngpeople taking care of their elders but unable to share the burden amongstsiblings.
The policy was eased in 2016, with two children now allowed, butit hasn't sparked a baby boom yet.
In a 2017 editorial in the state-run Global Times, Xi'an student Wang Yihan said the one-child policy had puthuge pressure on only children to support their aging parents, who believedthey had sacrificed for their child.
"'How does it feel to be the only child?' is a questionasked (online) ... and the most popular answer is 'Dare not die, dare not marrysomeone far from home, eager to earn money, because they only have me',"Wang said.
Many of those young people who left the villages over the lastseveral decades, like Qin and Sun's children, did find better salaries.
But many children fear they still aren't earning enough tocomfortably take care of their parents.
There are only about two dozen people left in Qin's village,down from more than 500 at one time
Until a solution is found, more and more elderly people willhave to support themselves. Qin and Sun survive on about $1,500 per yearthrough selling corn.
"It's difficult for our children to care for us," saidSun, a few weeks before her kids were due to return home for the new year."They already don't make much money, and we don't want to be a burden forthem."
But one day, hauling 100 kilograms of firewood a day will becomephysically impossible. Qin's lingering cancer could worsen. Sun could slip andfall.
When that day comes, like so many other aging Chinese citizens,they'll have to turn to their kids for help. Whether society as a whole canafford that is one of China's great questions for the future.
