Asia
China has scrapped a requirement of formal education for people seeking to be certified as caregivers for the elderly in a bid to increase their number by 2 million and plug a supply shortage.
FILE PHOTO: An elderly woman walks with a stick along a street in downtown Beijing, China July 30, 2019. REUTERS/Jason Lee
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BEIJING: China has scrapped a requirement of formal education for people seeking to be certified as caregivers for the elderly in a bid to increase their number by 2 million and plug a supply shortage.
The issue was the second-most popular topic on Chinese social media on Friday, with many welcoming the relaxation of the rules.
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Previously, those seeking certificates to qualify to care for the elderly had to have attended at least junior high school.
Children traditionally look after ageing parents, but in a country that only abolished its one-child policy in 2016, the burden is a heavy one.
A son or a daughter may end up having to take care of as many as four ageing people, including in-laws. Often, children have also moved to distant cities for work, adding to the need for caregivers.
By the end of 2018, China had a population of 249 million people aged 60 or older. About a quarter of that number have either physiological or cognitive disabilities, requiring care, according to the World Bank.
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In contrast, a recent official estimate puts the number of certified caregivers at 300,000.
China aims to increase that by 2 million before the end of 2022, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said this week.
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