The security for Chinese older people in urban‐rural one‐child families

The article's aim is to provide an overview of how care will be financed in the future in China as a consequence of changes in society.

The article is a descriptive review describing the responses and systems of funding that are being developed in China to address changes in care support structures and systems particularly in response to the single child policy and the impact of the increased financial aspirations of young Chinese people.

Traditional systems of support for elders have been weakened by changes in social structure and there is a need to develop new models of care and methods to finance this through both the state and insurance schemes. One consequence of change has been increasing numbers of elders living by themselves.

The one child policy has not only reduced the capacity of families to support their elders but has also caused an imbalance in the ratio of male to female children. It has now become essential to develop models of non‐familial support for elders to complement traditional systems.

The article provides an insight into the challenges facing China around elder care as a consequence of social policy change and increased economic mobility.