While the elderly who moved with them are under both physical and mental pressure, they also face a "welfare gap"——
Filling up the lack of rights and interests makes the "old drifters" feel at ease
Our reporter Deng Qifan
"Workers Daily" (April 18, 2022 Edition 06)
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Language communication, way of life, urban and rural customs, social interaction, etc. will bring discomfort to the "old drifters" living in a foreign country; the lack of "welfare" makes them even more like "foreigners" who cannot integrate.
Experts believe that in order to make the "old drifters" live better in their later years, it is necessary to strengthen institutional support for the elderly who migrate with them, and to increase investment in infant care services.
Lao Yu is 72 years old this year, and he and his wife have been busy these days.
A week ago, the daughter-in-law had just given birth to the second child and had not yet been discharged from the hospital. The son was also accompanying her in the hospital, and the remaining husband and wife were at home with their three-and-a-half-year-old granddaughter.
During the day, the only time they can relax a little is when they take their children downstairs. "She plays with the children in the community, and she can sit next to her and take a break."
He is a native of Jining, Shandong, and came to Beijing to take care of his granddaughter three years ago.
"The old are old, and they have to go to a new place to 're-employ'." Lao Yu sighed from time to time.
Now, old people like Lao Yu who have left their hometowns to support their children's career and take care of the third generation and come to cities where their children work are called "old drifters".
For most "old drifters", they are faced with a similar situation: on the one hand, they can be reunited with their descendants in their later years; on the other hand, in an unfamiliar environment, they are under both physical and mental pressure.
At the same time, in terms of public services, these elderly people also face a "welfare gap".
Can't get in, can't go back
The community where Lao Yu lives is not large, there are about 300 households in total, and there are more than 10 elderly people from other places who often bring grandchildren with him.
These 10 people are their only social circle in Beijing.
A pair of elderly people from Jiangxi have been afraid to chat with others because of their accent, feeling that they "cannot fit into the life of Beijing".
Li Jianhua, 63, has a daughter's house with an area of less than 60 square meters. This makes it difficult for her to turn around in the kitchen, who is used to living in her hometown's big house. She often feels "irritable and stuffy".
An elderly man in Shanxi said that at the house of his son and daughter-in-law, he had to pay extra attention to what he said.
Many living habits of the young couple are different from their own, and many things "depend on the child's face".
Earlier, a survey by the relevant media on the "old drifters" showed that 71.5% of the people said that "the social circle is narrow and they will be lonely"; 59.2% of the people said that "the living habits are different from their children's, and it is easy to cause conflicts"; 56.9% 49.7% of people said that "when you come to an unfamiliar city, you will be at a loss."
Language communication, way of life, urban and rural customs, social interactions, etc., will bring discomfort to the "old drifters" living in foreign countries.
Several times, Lao Yu discussed with his wife and asked the children to hire a nanny. The old couple went back to their hometown to live a comfortable life for a few days. But look at the children who leave early and return late every day, think about their financial pressure, and then look at the grandparents. The non-stop grandchildren took back the words when they got close to their mouths.
This is the common situation of almost all elderly people who move with them: it is difficult to integrate into the local area, but they are reluctant to let go.
Missing "benefits"
Compared with social and psychological problems, for the "old drifters", the greater helplessness comes from the "welfare gap" represented by medical insurance.
Before Lao Li retired, he was an employee of a forest farm in Heilongjiang, and his monthly pension was only two or three thousand yuan.
Lao Li suffers from chronic diseases such as heart disease and high blood pressure, and has been taking medicine for many years.
"When you see a doctor in Beijing, the outpatient service is not reimbursed, and you need to pay at your own expense. With the money we have, we won't have to make two trips to the hospital." Lao Li's solution is to use his medical insurance card to prescribe medicine whenever he has the opportunity to go back to his hometown. Time constraints, find ways to find acquaintances, go to a few more hospitals, and open a full six months at a time.
"I really hope to enjoy the inter-provincial settlement policy for outpatient expenses sooner," said Lao Li.
There are not a few old people who "carry medicine" like Lao Li.
In 2016, the nationwide direct settlement of inter-provincial and non-local medical treatment began to be implemented.
This has benefited many elderly migrants.
Since February last year, 27 pilot provinces for inter-provincial settlement of general outpatient expenses have realized interconnection and started trial operation, and the policy is gradually covering the elderly who move with them.
Affected by household registration, some cities' policies such as preferential treatment for public services also exclude "old drifters".
For example, some city bus ticket-free policies and park ticket reduction policies are limited to local household registration; community public services such as meal assistance, cleaning assistance, and medical assistance are also difficult to benefit the elderly.
The lack of "welfare" makes the life of the "old drifters" in a foreign land more like "foreigners" who cannot integrate into it.
Make your old age in a foreign land better
How to make the old drifters live better in their later years has attracted the attention and discussion of many experts.
"After the implementation of the comprehensive two-child policy, the pressure on the elderly to take care of their grandchildren has doubled." Li Ling, a professor at the National School of Development of Peking University, pointed out that to improve the social security system and expand the coverage of welfare, it is necessary to strengthen the institutional support for the elderly who are relocated, and also It is necessary to increase investment in infant and child care services.
It is necessary to develop an inclusive nursery service system, reduce the costs of childbirth, parenting, and education, and further improve the supply of infant and child care services, which can to a certain extent reduce the pressure on the elderly who move with them to raise children.
In response to the problem of medical treatment for the elderly who moved with them, Sun Hui, director of the Management Department of Shanghai Open University, suggested that the settlement standards for medical treatment in different places should be unified and a collaborative management platform should be built.
Sun Hui said that at present, Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang in the Yangtze River Delta region have completed the preliminary information exchange and interconnection, realizing the direct settlement of outpatient emergencies without filing, and the unified medical insurance handling across provinces.
The remote medical information collaborative management platform has its feasibility and superiority.
She believes that building a national unified database and information system for medical treatment information and integrating network information can further simplify the process of medical treatment in different places and improve the efficiency of medical treatment.
In order to solve the public service barriers caused by household registration, Li Ling suggested that we should continue to promote the equalization of public services and social welfare, and effectively allow the elderly to enjoy preferential policies such as bus travel, public cultural services, medical care, etc. Economic and physical reasons result in insufficient supply of family care.
In addition to the migrants themselves and their families, the community is an important vehicle to help them integrate into society.
It is reported that by the end of the "14th Five-Year Plan", my country will build 5,000 demonstration urban and rural elderly-friendly communities to improve community service capabilities and better meet the needs of the elderly in terms of living environment, elderly care services, and social participation.
Experts say the community should do more to help the "old drifters" integrate into local life.