Challenges to successful aging in transitional China

Abstract

Successful aging is a very relevant topic for China, given that it has the largest elderly population in the world and one of the fastest rates of population aging in human history. In this chapter, we review the literature related to three questions. First, has there been more success in successful aging since China began the economic reform in the late 1970s? Second, who among those living in contemporary China are more and less likely to age successfully and why? Third, how would the trend of successful aging in China be affected by rapid industrialization and urbanization? Our literature review suggests that recent cohorts of older Chinese have better health than their precedents. Nonetheless, disparities in older people's health exist between urban vs. rural areas, regions, socioeconomic strata and gender, suggesting that opportunities for aging successfully are not equally distributed. Moreover, observed improvements in health may not continue in future cohorts of older adults due to lifestyle changes and environmental threats that have accompanied the economic growth. How to enable successful aging among members of socially disadvantaged groups and reduce the negative impact of rapid urbanization on health are challenges to successful aging in China. These challenges are probably shared by other emerging economies as well.