Having surveyed more than 3,300 elderly people in Tianjin, a city close to Beijing, Tianjin Academy of Social Sciences reported 32.5 percent of them were in poor health.

Sixty four percent were over 70 years old and 44 percent had lost their spouses. Almost one third were in poor housing. All figures are higher than those of elders living with their families.

A 76-year-old paralysed man said life was not easy. He and his unemployed wife live on a monthly pension of 415 yuan (US$50). They have one son, but he seldom visits them.

Gerontologist Hao Maishou said, elderly people in empty nests would become a problem in aging China. One third of elderly people in major cities do not live with their families. The rate will rise to nine tenths in the next 10 years. The era of extended families is gone.

Hao said the empty nest syndrome is the result of economic development and a change in social norms. China needs to establish a caring system, promoting self-reliance and professional care, as well as developing a social security system to help the lonely elderly.

(eastday.com 09/29/2001)