Scholar: Elderly facilities need improvement as aging society grows
Former lawmaker Agnes Lam is suggesting that the government improve facilities for the elderly, given that the aging population has been increasing over the past several years.
According to the 2021 population census, the number of residents aged 65 years and above jumped by 6.35% from 12% in 2020 to 12.7% in 2021.
Since the 3.1% growth in 2011, residents aged 65 years and above shot up by 81.6% in 2021.
During a TDM talk show, the director of the Centre for Macau Studies (CMS) foresaw that Macau would see a continuous upward trend in the aging society as the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) is set to release an updated census report in the second half of this year.
Lam echoed a report issued by the Chinese University of Hong Kong back in 2019, which tackled the expected increase in demand for medical services by the elderly.
The scholar pointed out that according to the census, the population of aging residents and children is gradually increasing, while the population of young people is decreasing. These results reflect the constant pressure on young people to take care of the elderly and children in the future.
The survey also showed that the population of Taipa has increased, but transportation and social facilities that give priority to the elderly are still not enough.
Meanwhile, Macau Social Security Society said that the census reflects the slowdown in the population growth rate in Macau, and the continuous reduction in household size, which may weaken the ability of the family to support the elderly.
The State Council of the People’s Republic of China has released a plan for the development of the country’s elderly care services system during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025) earlier this year, as part of its latest step to implement a national strategy to address an aging population.
The plan specifies major goals and tasks for the five-year period, including expanding the supply of elderly care services, improving health support mechanisms for the elderly, and advancing the innovative and integrated development of service models.
This comes after the latest census data showed that Chinese people aged 60 or above accounted for 18.7% of the country’s total population in 2020, 5.44 percentage points higher than in 2010.
Staff Reporter
