Shenzhen is encouraging the establishment of nursing homes for one-child families and will give preferential treatment regarding finance, taxation, land use and other aspects to privately run nursing homes that accept only-child parents, the Nanfang Daily reported Thursday.
The decision was revealed Wednesday by the city’s health and family planning commission, civil affairs bureau and the housing authority in response to a proposal submitted by a deputy to the Municipal People’s Congress.
According to deputy Bai Hong, China strictly controlled its population from the 1980s until it fully implemented the two-child policy in 2016. The first generation of those who abided by the one-child policy is now aging and relying on a single child to take care of both parents has become a social problem.
“At present, there are more than 1 million families in China that are bereft of their only child, with an increase of about 76,000 each year. It is expected that there will eventually be more than 10 million such families in our country, which deserves more attention,” said Bai.
By 2020, Shenzhen will have over 3,000 new beds provided for the aged as it strives to offer 40 beds for every 1,000 local elderly people, according to the city’s civil affairs bureau.
The health authority said that by the end of October 2017, 4.01 million people in Shenzhen had signed up with family doctors, 66.46 percent of whom were elderly people. Additionally, 2,068 people from one-child families had signed up with family doctors and will enjoy priority services in medical consultation, charges and medication.
Shenzhen has also explored the establishment of an insurance system for one-child families and increased the reward system for one-child parents.
A father of a one-child family who is at least 60 years old and a mother who is at least 55 years old can receive a monthly reward of 160 yuan (US$23) per person, which is higher than the provincial reward standard of 80 yuan per person.
However, as the one-child policy was abolished Jan. 1, 2016, couples with one child following the rule change cannot enjoy the preferential treatment, the health authority said.