Guarding the aged in earnest
Updated: 2015-12-29 08:05
(China Daily)
|
|||||||||
China's aging population will double from 200 million now to around 400 million by 2050 and will remain one-third of the total population for a prolonged period. [Photo/IC] |
It is unbelievable that a 45-year-old maid in South China's Guangdong province is being tried as a serial killer.
She was promised an entire month's wage if the elderly woman she was hired to take care of died within a month, and she was accused of killing the old lady days after she got the job.
In court, she confessed to killing nine elderly people for the same reason.
Behind the horrifying story is the harsh reality that more than 35 million aged residents above 60 cannot take care of themselves. If their children cannot spare time to look after them, they either spend the rest of their lives in nursing homes or are looked after by people hired to care for them.
It is indeed rare for a caregiver to be a killer. But it is not rare for them to maltreat or steal money or other valuables from the aged people they are supposed to be caring for, especially when the people in their care are unable to protect themselves or their property.
The total number of people above the age of 60 in China is more than 212 million, and an increasing number of them will need the care of others in the near future. The demand for caregivers to look after them will be huge. How the elderly can ensure the people supposed to be caring for them are not a threat and will give the care they need is thus an urgent question.
Children who hire caregivers to look after their aged parents can put safety measures in place against those with bad or even evil intentions. Yet it should be possible for such care providers to be registered and vetted to ensure they have professional training and the ethical character necessary for such job.
That is surely a solution to this problem.
- Super-aged Japan taps benefits of its graying workforce
- The aged have access to home-based care services in Dunhuang
- Government attention needed for better nursing homes for the aged
- Helping aged also helps the economy
- Guizhou's hands-on approach to better care for the aged
- Qingdao encouraging new approach to services for the aged
- Double Ninth Festival: Respect and love the aged
- More aid from China set for Syria
- Japanese journalist reportedly being held in Syria
- New York City has warmest Christmas Eve on record
- One dead as fight leads to fatal shooting at North Carolina mall
- Trump's lead bodes well for Hillary Clinton's presidential bid
- Spanish Socialist leader insists no support for Rajoy
- Top 10 policy changes in China in 2015
- Yearender 2015: Natural disasters
- The world in photos: Dec 21 - 27
- Yearender: Film critics' top 10 Chinese films of 2015
- Goldware inscribed with characters unearthed from ancient cemetery
- China's top scientific achievements in 2015
- Yearend 2015: A picture and its story
- Christmas celebrated across the world
Most Viewed
Editor's Picks
8 highlights about V-day Parade |
Glimpses of Tibet: Plateaus, people and faith |
Chinese entrepreneurs remain optimistic despite economic downfall |
50th anniversary of Tibet autonomous region |
Tianjin explosions: Deaths, destruction and bravery |
Cinemas enjoy strong first half |
Today's Top News
Shooting rampage at US social services agency leaves 14 dead
Chinese bargain hunters are changing the retail game
Chinese president arrives in Turkey for G20 summit
Islamic State claims responsibility for Paris attacks
Obama, Netanyahu at White House seek to mend US-Israel ties
China, not Canada, is top US trade partner
Tu first Chinese to win Nobel Prize in Medicine
Huntsman says Sino-US relationship needs common goals
US Weekly
Geared to go |
The place to be |