Elderly with Disability in Lower Income Families and Their Caregivers in Beijing, China

Xiaochun Qiao, Institute of Population Research, Peking University

The objective of this paper is to describe the disability status, differences, and associated factors of elderly people from low-income families and their caregivers in Beijing, China. The data used came from the Beijing Precision Assistance Needs Survey organized by the author, supported by Beijing Civil Affairs Bureau, from 2018 to 2019. There were 653495 elderly people aged 60 and above were ultimately screened, accounting for 17.9% of the elderly population in Beijing at that time. Some of these disadvantaged elderly live in economically disadvantaged families, totaling 65933 people, accounting for 10.0% of all disadvantaged elderly people. We found that older people living in poor or low-income families generally have poorer physical function. However, the physical function of these elderly people rapidly declines with age, and the situation is worse for women than men. However, 78% of severely disabled individuals have someone to take care of them. For the elderly living in lower income families, there were 18.5% (12188 cases) of them who were taken care by others. Most of caregivers were their children and children-in-law, accounted for 45.4%. Their spouses were accounted for 33.9%. Brothers or Sisters were accounted for 6.0% and 10.5, respectively.

Keywords: Inequality, Disadvantage and Discrimination, Older Adults and Intergenerational Relations, Families, Unions and Households

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