Approximately one fifth of the world's elderly population lives in China.
According to the state census, 49.7 million people aged sixty-five or over were living in
China in the middle 1980s, and by the end of this century this figure is expected to reach
86.5 million. This large population of elderly people makes China an aged country and
thus brings great need for the study of related social problems. Research in this field has
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been increasing since the late 1980s; however, what has been done is still not enough.
This is especially true with regard to anthropological studies using the ethnographic
approach.
In this research project, direct interviews and contacts with interviewees and other
informants provide the basis of an ethnographic study. Along with the introduction and
discussion of family transitions and the role and effect of related state policies, this thesis
provides a closer look at the changing social status of the elderly in contemporary Chinese
society and the resulting problems.
Considerable diversity wrought by ethnic, regional, and economic differences has
always existed in modern Chinese society. Generalization about China's elderly
population is not possible without acknowledging these diversities. There are great
differences between the living situation in urban and rural areas. This thesis focuses on the
elderly population in urban areas where people have been more severely affected by state
policies and consequent social changes. This thesis also recognizes the differences among
the elderly in different age groups. The focus of this study is the young elderly cohort.
Here, young elderly are defined as people who are between age 55 and 70.