Many NPC deputies called for improving the level of legalization of elderly care services

A special law is urgently needed to promote the development of the elderly service industry

　　□ Our reporter Pu Xiaolei

　　How fast is the development of my country's population aging?

　　Statistics show that at the end of the 20th century, my country's elderly population of 60 years and over accounted for more than 10%, entering an aging society.

Today, my country’s population of 60 years and over is 264.02 million, accounting for 18.7%.

In the future, this speed may continue to be maintained-it is expected that at the end of the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, it will shift from mild aging to the moderate stage (over 20%), and enter the severe stage around 2035 (over 30%) ).

　　In response to the challenges posed by the aging population, the central and local governments have taken actions one after another.

　　The Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee held a meeting on May 31 to listen to reports on major policies and measures to actively respond to population aging during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, and to deliberate the "Decision on Optimizing Fertility Policies to Promote Long-term and Balanced Population Development."

　　At the local level, many places have begun to legislate to deal with the challenges posed by an aging population.

A reporter from the Rule of Law Daily noted that many provinces and cities including Jiangsu, Gansu, Shandong, Shanghai, Guangdong, Hebei, and other provinces and cities have enacted old-age service regulations, and Henan, Guizhou and other places are in the process of enacting them.

　　Li Mingshun, secretary of the Party Committee of China Women’s University, said in an interview with a reporter from the Rule of Law Daily on June 14 that as my country is gradually entering an aging society, legislation on elderly care services in many places is conducive to better protecting the legitimate rights and interests of the elderly. , It is recommended that after a period of time when local regulations are implemented, their implementation effects should be evaluated, and relevant experience should be summarized to make legislation at the national level, so as to better respond to the challenges brought about by the aging of the population.

The size of the elderly population is huge

　　Data from the seventh national census shows that there are 260 million people in my country who are 60 years old and above, of which 190 million people are 65 years old and above.

Among the 31 provinces in the country, 16 provinces have more than 5 million people aged 65 and over. Among them, 6 provinces have more than 10 million elderly people.

　　The huge size of the elderly population has become a major challenge facing all regions.

Moreover, with the apparent acceleration of the aging process, this challenge has become more and more difficult.

Statistics show that from 2010 to 2020, the proportion of the population aged 60 and above increased by 5.44%, and the proportion of population aged 65 and above increased by 4.63%.

Compared with the previous decade, the increase rate increased by 2.51 and 2.72 percentage points respectively.

　　"From the perspective of the challenge, population aging will reduce the number of labor supply, increase the burden of family pensions and the pressure on the supply of basic public services." said Ning Jizhe, deputy leader of the Seventh National Census Leading Group of the State Council and Director of the National Bureau of Statistics .

　　In recent years, in order to actively respond to the aging of the population, many places have continuously met the multi-level and diversified needs for elderly care services by improving basic elderly care services, developing public welfare elderly care services, and promoting market-oriented elderly care services.

　　"A few years ago, we renovated the old community here. The barrier-free facilities in the community have been well built, and it has been much easier for parents to travel." Wang Chao, a citizen of Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province, told reporters.

　　In 2018, Hebei Province initiated the transformation of old communities and formulated a three-year action plan for the transformation of old communities. The construction of barrier-free facilities in old communities was promoted according to local conditions, which greatly improved the living conditions of the elderly.

Moreover, this measure has also been established in the form of laws and regulations by Hebei.

The "Hebei Province Elderly Service Regulations" that will be implemented on July 1 require that if there are no old-age service facilities in existing urban residential areas or the existing facilities do not meet the planning requirements, the government shall purchase, replace, lease and other methods to provide them.

Provide legal support in many places

　　A few days ago, Yang Yingjie, a Shanghai citizen, accompanied his parents to a community service center to listen to a lesson on how to teach the elderly to use smartphones.

　　"In today's society, if you don’t know how to use a smartphone, sometimes it’s really “difficult to walk”. Whether you need to show your health code when you travel or register for a doctor, these things must be operated on your mobile phone. Parents have also felt this. When you see the course notice, let me sign up to accompany them to listen." Yang Yingjie said.

　　In order to allow the elderly to also enjoy digital convenience, Shanghai has also included relevant content in local regulations.

The “Regulations of Shanghai Municipality on Elderly Services”, which came into effect on March 20 this year, stipulate that administrative departments at all levels, institutions and enterprises that provide public services, when providing public information services for the elderly, shall meet the barrier-free environment construction standards and meet the For the needs of barrier-free information dissemination and communication, promote the application of intelligent information services that meet the needs of the elderly; when providing public services for the elderly, the habits of the elderly should be fully respected, and traditional service methods should be preserved and improved.

　　Responding to the challenge of population aging through legislation has become a consensus in many places.

The reporter noticed that at the provincial level, Jiangsu, Gansu, Shandong, Shanghai, Guangdong, Hebei and other places have enacted old-age service regulations, Henan and Guizhou’s old-age service regulations are being formulated, and Anhui, Chongqing, Inner Mongolia, Sichuan and other places have Carry out legislative research or demonstration work.

　　From transforming and constructing elderly care service facilities to improving the ability of the elderly to prevent illegal infringements; from clarifying the responsibilities of the government and departments to clarifying the legal responsibilities of related subjects... All regions focus on key difficulties, focus on shortcomings, and incorporate elderly care services into the rule of law track.

　　It is worth noting that some localities also take into account the implementation of rural revitalization strategies in their legislation, and specifically regulate rural elderly care services.

　　The Regulations of Shanghai Municipality on Elderly Care Services stipulate that this city incorporates rural elderly care service facilities and services into the rural revitalization plan. The relevant district and township people's governments shall promote the balanced layout of rural elderly care service facilities in accordance with the requirements of coordinated urban and rural development and improve service levels; The Regulations on Elderly Care Services of Hebei Province clarify that governments at all levels should incorporate the construction of rural elderly care service facilities into the rural revitalization strategic plan, promote the balanced and reasonable layout of rural elderly care service facilities, and support rural collective economic organizations, village committees, and social forces to build mutual happiness homes and nursing homes. Provide diversified old-age care services for rural elderly people in accordance with local conditions and other old-age service facilities.

　　Straighten out government-market relations

　　Local governments have promoted elderly care services in a legislative way, so that the rights and interests of the elderly can be better protected.

However, it is undeniable that due to the different economic and social developments of various regions, the regulations formulated will also be different, which leads to differences in the preferential treatment policies for the elderly in different regions.

　　In response to this problem, Han Deyun, a representative of the National People's Congress and an attorney from Chongqing Sotong Law Firm, suggested that legislation be established at the national level to establish a national basic preferential treatment system for the elderly.

　　"The establishment of a national basic preferential treatment system for the elderly through national legislation will help better protect the legitimate rights and interests of the elderly. The system can draw on the experience that has been formed in various regions, and choose those that are generally included in the established preferential treatment policies for the elderly. The project has been upgraded to a basic preferential treatment project for the elderly and implemented uniformly across the country." Han Deyun said.

　　The reporter has noticed that when formulating regulations on elderly care services in various regions, the higher-level law is mainly based on the law on the protection of the rights and interests of the elderly. On this basis, the legislation for elderly care services is combined with local conditions.

　　Hou Xueyuan, deputy to the National People's Congress and director of the Jiangsu Provincial Audit Department, believes that part of the Law on the Protection of Rights and Interests of the Elderly covers elderly care services. However, because there is no special law on elderly care services, it is difficult to meet the legal requirements of the rapid development of elderly care services nationwide.

Therefore, it is recommended that the country study and promulgate related laws on elderly care services to clarify the planning and construction of elderly care facilities, residential community elderly care services, institutional elderly care services, elderly care service practitioners, support preferential policies, elderly care service supervision and legal responsibilities under the legal framework, so as to allow the nationwide elderly care services There are laws and rules to follow in service work.

　　"To deal with the challenges brought by an aging society, in the final analysis, we must improve the level of legalization of elderly care services, and refine the service standards and service procedures. I hope that the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress will start the investigation of the legislation of the elderly care services law as soon as possible, and include this law in the legislative plan. "Said Xia Xuemin, a researcher at the Zhejiang Provincial Institute of Public Policy.

　　Li Mingshun believes that the implementation of the national strategy to actively respond to the aging of the population requires the rule of law as a guarantee. It is recommended to formulate an old-age service law as soon as possible, and clarify the old-age service of “government-led, social participation, market operation, and overall development” through straightening out the relationship between the government and the market. The principle of development is to build an old-age service system based on the home, supported by the community, fully developed institutions, and organically integrated medical care.