The kin and I | The Economist
▻http://www.economist.com/news/china/21662594-state-unprepared-rising-numbers-old-people-living-alone-kin-and-i?fsrc=scn/tw/te/pe/ed/thekinandi
LIU CAIPING is a former maths teacher, now 71, who has lived alone in the western city of Xi’an since her husband died last year. The radio is her steadfast companion. Her eyesight is failing and she rarely goes out. Like many city residents, her former neighbours have scattered, and her two daughters are far away. When she can no longer cope on her own she will go to a nursing home, she says. That option remains extremely rare for old Chinese. And that highlights the problem: China is struggling to cope with a rapidly ageing society and a rising number of elderly people living by themselves.