Time to develop 'gray-hair economy'

Zuo Chunxiu, 88, who retired from Zhengzhou Railway Administration, is on her way to her volunteer post as a service worker at Zhengzhou Railway Station in Henan province. LI AN/XINHUA

The seventh population census, whose findings the National Bureau of Statistics announced on Tuesday, says the number of people aged above 60 has reached 264 million, accounting for 18.7 percent of the total population. The sexagenarian population has grown by 5.44 percentage points over the past 10 years.

While aging is a problem in many developed countries, too, it is particularly complicated for China, because its population saw a sharp rise in the early 1980s followed by a sudden drop in the percentage of newborns in the 1990s because of the strict family planning policy.

An aging population brings with it unexpected challenges. For example, a drop in labor force supply will rob China of the demographic dividend that supported its growth story in the past decades. Public services, too, will face greater pressure.

To encourage more births, China eased the family planning policy in 2016 allowing all couples to have two children. But the birthrate didn't increase to the extent expected, because population growth is a complicated process that cannot be influenced by changing the family planning policy alone.

More policies are needed to encourage all couples to have two children.

First, the authorities need to lower the education and medical costs in metropolises, and social welfare measures must also be strengthened so more couples agree to have two children.

Second, education, medical care, housing, employment and eldercare departments must coordinate their policies to lower the cost of raising a child.

Third, senior citizens should not be treated as a burden, but as people who can still contribute to society. More measures are needed to support the eldercare sector, and infrastructure, public facilities and internet services must be improved to better serve the elderly. Besides, the "gray-hair economy" holds much potential that should be realized for the benefit of society.

That China is an aging society is a reality. It is time to learn how to make everyone in it happy.