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23.4 million empty nesters
struggle to live alone
Xinhuanet That an old couple of over 70
fell at their "Empty nesters" refers
to senior citizens in a family without children around, including both the
married and the widowed. In Currently, the empty nester group
is expanding quantitatively and proportionately, said He Maishou, a
professor on aging with the Tianjin Academy of Social Sciences. The empty nesters are concerned
by three major problems, namely financial inadequacy, lack of physical
care and insufficient emotional support, experts said. In The problem becomes even more
severe when it comes to rural families, whose elderly normally do not have
old-age pensions. Senility often comes suddenly and
senior citizens' lives are immediately under threat if they live by
themselves, said Xu Qin, an aging expert who has been keeping following
the empty nest syndrome. Meanwhile, depression is another
killer, Xu said. As people grow old, their social ties with the old work
units and the neighbors loosen. Empty nesters are likely to feel depressed
since they have nobody to talk to and nothing to do. Experts said the empty nest
problem is related to family, community, government and the society as a
whole and requires joint efforts from all parties concerned. Professor He said the traditional
vertical support of elderly people, in which the responsibility falls on
the children and the work units, is supposed to switch to modern
horizontal style, which consists of mutual care within a couple and care
from the local community. Chongwai Community in They installed an "emergency
bell" in the home of every empty nester, which is linked to an active
community member. Their work paid off when
73-year-old Grandma Lu, who lived by herself, suffered from a heart
problem one night several days ago. She pressed the "emergency
bell", and her neighbor Cui sent her tothe hospital. “If not for Cui and for the
emergency bell, I might have died," she said. Various services including
haircuts, shopping and cooking are also available through the
"emergency bell".
Copyright
© 2002 Global Action on Aging |