China is aging at an unprecedented rate. Improvements in life expectancy and the consequences of the decades-old family planning policy have led to a rapid increase in the elderly population. According to the United Nations World Population Prospects, the proportion of older people age 65 and over will increase by about one-fourth by 2030, and the elderly will account for about one quarter of the total population by 2050. Population aging will not only pose challenges for elder care but also have an impact on the economy and all aspects of society (World Bank, 2016a). The government is aware of the need to develop an efficient and sustainable approach to aged care. To this end, the General Office of the State Council issued the 12th Five-Year Plan for the Development of Aged Care Services in China and the Development Plan for a System of Social Services for the Aged (2011-2015). It is now in the process of formulating the 13th Five-Year National Plan on Aging, which will further elaborate and finalize the reform roadmap for 2016 to 2020. The Plan is expected to be finalized and launched by June 2016. The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) helped draft these plans and is now leading the development of policy measures for the provision of social services for the elderly. This volume has been prepared to support the translation of the broad ideas on aged care provision expressed in the 12th and 13th Five-Year Plans and other government plans into reality and to help the government tackle the challenges described above. It strives to identify a policy framework that fits the Chinese context and can be put in place gradually. Specifically, it aims to provide an up-to-date understanding of the evolving aged care landscape in China; review international experiences in long-term care provision, financing, and quality assurance and assess their relevance to China’s current situation; discuss implications of current developments and trends for the future of aged care in China; and propose policy options based on available evidence and best practices.

Recognizing rapidly ageing population is one key concern faced by cities and the challenge it would present to healthcare system, this book looks at ageing in China’s population as well as the delivery and financing of long-term care (LTC) in China. The book compares key features of long-term care insurance (LTCI) schemes in 15 pilot cities and evaluates the sustainability of various financing models adopted by the cities in the LTCI schemes. The book uses an interpretive case study approach to give an in-depth look into the LTC models in three pilot cities – Qingdao, Nantong, and Shanghai. The three cities represent three different models of financing and delivering LTC. To assess how effective the LTC models in these three cities are, the book uses five criteria, including utilization of medical resources, cost, equity, quality of care and sustainability. Also, the authors discuss how the financing and delivery of LTC can be improved in China, the impact of the 2019 coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on older adults in need of LTC in the country and the implications of China’s LTCI reform for other countries. The book will be a useful reference to scholars and policy-makers who look at urban ageing and healthcare costs and delivery.

Growing Old in a New China: Transitions in Elder Care is an accessible exploration of changing care arrangements in China. Combining anthropological theory, ethnographic vignettes, and cultural and social history, it sheds light on the growing movement from home-based to institutional elder care in urban China. The book examines how tensions between old and new ideas, desires, and social structures are reshaping the experience of caring and being cared for. Weaving together discussions of family ethics, care work, bioethics, aging, and quality of life, this book puts older adults at the center of the story. It explores changing relationships between elders and themselves, their family members, caregivers, society, and the state, and the attempts made within and across these relational webs to find balance and harmony. The book invites readers to ponder the deep implications of how and why we care and the ways end-of-life care arrangements complicate both living and dying for many elders.

How will China reform its economy as it aspires to become the next economic superpower? It's clear that China is the world's next economic superpower. But what isn't so clear is how China will get there by the middle of this century. It now faces tremendous challenges such as fostering innovation, dealing with ageing problem and coping with a less accommodative global environment. In this book, economists from China's leading university and America's best-known think tank offer in depth analyses of these challenges. Does China have enough talent and right policy and institutional mix to transit from input-driven to innovation-driven economy? What does ageing mean, in terms of labor supply, consumption demand and social welfare expenditure? Can China contain the environmental and climate change risks? How should the financial system be transformed in order to continuously support economic growth and keep financial risks under control? What fiscal reforms are required in order to balance between economic efficiency and social harmony? What roles should the state-owned enterprises play in the future Chinese economy? In addition, how will technological competition between the United States and China affect each country's development? Will the Chinese yuan emerge as a major reserve currency, and would this destabilize the international financial system? What will be China's role in the international economic institutions? And will the United States and other established powers accept a growing role for China and the rest of the developing world in the governance of global institutions such as the World Trade Organization and the International Monetary Fund, or will the world devolve into competing blocs? This book provides unique insights into independent analyses and policy recommendations by a group of top Chinese and American scholars. Whether China succeeds or fails in economic reform will have a large impact, not just on China's development, but also on stability and prosperity for the whole world.

Countries are facing increasing life expectancy and a shrinking family size and in effect, this may escalate demands for medical and supportive services. The role of families in providing informal care will remain important. However, the simultaneous decline in the supply of informal caregiving caused by changes in family structure and higher female labour-market participation necessitate the expansion of the public role in care provision. This book analyses the challenges of long-term care (LTC) policy development and implications from advanced LTC systems and a current trajectory in emerging economies in Asia. The book approaches the subject through comparative analysis on what works and what does not to provide insight into public policy options for sustainable LTC provision and financing mechanisms. How the countries adopt different approaches to health and social systems towards LTC development could provide important insight and perspectives into policy options in the region. This book aims at academics, policymakers and practitioners in health, social, and aged care services and could also be used as a teaching resource for undergraduate students in health and social sciences and postgraduate programs in public health, epidemiology, social demography, gerontology, and nursing. The book will be of interest to a wider audience not only on social and health consequences of population ageing but also health and social policy relating to older persons.

This book investigates public medical insurance reform in China and studies its effects from both institutional and empirical study perspectives. It provides the reader with academic evidence for understanding the transformation of public medical insurance and its effect on the utilization of healthcare services, expenditure for medical care, individuals’ financial portfolio allocation, and well-being. The main content of the book comprises two parts. First, institutional transformations of public medical insurance are considered: medical insurance reform in rural and urban China, and problems of medical insurance reform in the country. Second, it looks at the impact of public medical insurance reforms in China: evidence-based on empirical studies, including determinants of participation in medical insurance, the New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme and its effects on the utilization of healthcare services, medical insurance and its effects on out-of-pocket expenditure, risky financial market participation, and well-being in China. This study provides academic evidence about these issues based on economic theories and econometric methods using many kinds of nationwide Chinese representative survey data. The book is highly recommended to readers who are interested in up-to-date and in-depth empirical studies on the mechanisms of participation in medical insurance and the impact of public medical insurance reforms on individuals and household behaviors in China. This volume will be of interest to those who are interested in the Chinese economy, social security policymakers, and scholars with an econometric analysis background.

This book uses a historical and modern lens to reimagine the role that Extension could potentially play in catalyzing reciprocal, co-learning relationships between Land-Grant Universities and their diverse local constituencies. The establishment of statewide extension systems was once seen as a way to ensure that Land-Grant Universities would be accessible and responsive to all of a state’s residents. Extension systems continue to offer a front-door to a major public university in almost every county of the United States, but they tend to be viewed primarily as a way to translate science or distribute information from the university to the public. This books argues for the importance of Extension and shows that we are conceiving of this system too narrowly. Only by retelling the stories of the Extension and getting people to see themselves as part of the story can we imagine a different future in which state universities and land-grant colleges engage more authentically and equitably in two-way relationships with their local constituents.in catalyzing reciprocal, co-learning relationships between Land-Grant Universities and their diverse local constituencies. Chapter “Palatable disruption: the politics of plant milk", chapter “Feeding the melting pot: inclusive strategies for the multi-ethnic city", chapter "A carrot isn't a carrot isn't a carrot: tracing value in alternative practices of food exchange", chapter “Virtualizing the 'good life': reworking narratives of agrarianism and the rural idyll in a computer game" and chapter "'Workable utopias' for social change through inclusion and empowerment? Community supported agriculture (CSA) in Wales as social innovation" are available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license via link.springer.com.

This book provides comprehensive analysis and descriptions of China’s ageing finance system . China is undergoing the largest, fastest and longest process of population ageing in the world. It becomes a pressing challenge to the Chinese social security system in this era. Many developed countries have been going through this process. Pension and other financial tools have been studied and practiced for decades. China now is developing its own ageing finance systems by learning from other countries’ experiences and making innovations to suit the country’s request. Finance, a field that deals with the study of investments and the science of money management, is the most important tool to manage this situation. And hence Ageing finance has been developed into an independent area for research and practice. It helps the country adapt to new elderly support systems which is the necessary result from China’s admirable economic development and changes in population structure. Ageing finance is the sum of financial activities centered on various social need of providing for the aged and serving for their society. It includes pension finance,old age wealth management service and finance of ageing industry. Chinese government and people are facing a very unique situation as our population structure is deeply changed by the One Child Policy since last 70s. The slope of ageing curve is sharper than most countries yet it has achieved the most successful economic development in the world during the same period. Academic researchers, financial practitioners, and policy makers will find this book to be essential reading, as they study this process and look forward to new theories, innovations and lessons raised from it.