China’s population is aging rapidly, with every fifth person being above 60 years of age now. This process poses a number of problems for families, communities and society at large. The government has responded with a number of social policy initiatives to reform and enlarge the eldercare system. Yet, it still expects that 90 percent of elderly will be taken care of by their families. Given the mobility and trans-local household practices that have become widespread in contemporary China, this presents a huge challenge for many families. For these and other reasons, some will have to rely on institutional care, while in other cases the elderly themselves are compelled to relocate to wherever their nearest of kin now reside – both to receive and to provide care (for their grandchildren).

This digital dialogue explores these social worlds of aging in urban China by looking at two in particular: Mobile grandparents who move to cities following their adult children and a state-run nursing home providing eldercare in a central China metropolis. The speakers analyze and compare their findings to examine how social worlds of aging evolve in China’s new reality as an aging society. How is care-giving redefined in the process? How are inter-generational relations transformed? What are the value changes and identity formation processes involved? These and related questions will be discussed.

Song Yu is professor and director of the XIPU Institution, Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University. Her research interests include local governance, gender and social development, migration and urbanization, industrial development, and ageing society in China. Her recent publications include articles on age-related digital divide, family planning policy, women’s political participation, and migration in China.

Yan Zhe is a research fellow at Constructor University, Bremen. He is currently working in a DFG-funded research project “Global Dynamics of Social Policy”. He obtained his PhD in 2023 with a thesis entitled “Surrogate Elder Care: Paid Care Work within the Nexus of State, Family, and Market under China's Care Transition.” His work has been published in the Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology, Ethics and Social Welfare, and Journal of Aging Studies.

A recording of the event can be found here:

https://video.uni-wuerzburg.de/iframe/?securecode=f8254eb7c2d4b8d1259faf09