Recent development in Chinese elder homes: A reconciliation of traditional culture

Abstract

This paper examines recent developments in elder care homes and changing attitudes toward institutional care in the Tianjin area of China. Based on research conducted at 12 sites, this study compares two types of elder care homes which are competing in the growing Chinese market for institutional elder care: ones characterized as government-owned and others described as “non-government-owned.” Findings suggest that, despite rapid growth in the elder care home industry in China, the market is tilted toward the former government-owned elder care homes that still enjoy institutional and bureaucratic advantages in funding, staffing, and insurance. The research also examines the changing connotations of cultural norm in parent care. Traditional attitudes against placing parents in elder care homes are changing; some adult children as well as elders are starting to express acceptance of institutional elder care. The authors argue that institutional care for aging parents is likely to become a major option for parent care as adult children become increasingly unavailable due to the one-child policy, the need to work, and perhaps distant residence.