China is now supporting more people over 65 than children under 15

From the source

China now has more elderly dependents than children for the first time, a demographic milestone that adds to the mounting pressure facing the world’s second-largest economy. The country’s old-age dependency ratio, which measures the number of people 65 and older as a share of the working-age population, rose to 23.1% last year, overtaking the child dependency ratio of 22%, according to data released last week by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and reported by Yicai. More than 223 million people in China are 65 or older, compared with roughly 213 million children aged 14 and under, according to government data. “The costs of an ageing population fall more heavily on pensions, healthcare and long-term care,” Stuart Gietel-Basten, a professor of social science and public policy at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, says. China’s state pension fund risks running out of money by 2035, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences warned in 2019. The country’s population…

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