Aging China Relies on ‘Young Old’ to Take Care of Oldest Seniors
The rapidly aging country is road-testing a model pioneered in Japan and the U.S. that encourages volunteers to earn credits they can redeem for services by performing tasks for the elderly.
A volunteer with the Shanghai Changning Elderly Service Time Bank assists a senior at a community center.
Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg
Bored after years in retirement, Fan Gendi found a part-time job at a senior care center in her downtown Shanghai neighborhood in 2019. The septuagenarian now coaches fellow seniors in digital literacy—downloading pictures on WeChat, mostly. For her efforts, she gets paid not in money but in time.
Fan is one of more than 2,000 members of the Shanghai Changning Elderly Service Time Bank, part of a government pilot program designed to address the needs of China’s growing ranks of senior citizens. The bank relies on members to provide a slew of services, and those members in turn can use their donated hours to access the same resources.