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Home » Opinion » Foreign Views
Loneliness a plague of modern societies
By Claire Whitelaw |
January 22, 2009, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
THE rapid economic and social change has caused many of pensioners in China to feel lonely and alienated, a new study suggests.
Although a market economy has brought prosperity to China, it has also caused the weakening of a traditional society that had collectivism and strong family ties at its heart.
The study by Durham University and the University of Reading, both in the UK, published in Ageing and Society, examined in detail two surveys of Chinese people aged 60 years and over in 1992 and 2000.
The percentage of older people who said they were lonely has doubled from about 16 percent in 1992 to 30 percent in 2000.
The surveys used for the study were the Survey of the Support System for the Elderly in China (1992) and the Survey of the Aged Population in China (2,000).
Differences in the design of the two studies mean they cannot be used as an exact comparison but they are the best statistical indication to date of the problem of loneliness.
The study authors point out that more detailed research is needed to obtain a more accurate picture outlining the extent of the loneliness problem.
While loneliness can severely impact a person's quality of life, it can also be a triggering factor for mental health issues.
The findings suggest that policy makers in China need to take urgent action to assess what is needed to improve the quality of life for its 140 million older people, who collectively amount to the largest older population in the world.
The Durham and Reading University study suggests potential causes for loneliness include a widespread move since the late 1970s from highly collectivized communities, where several generations lived under one roof in close proximity to their neighbors, to communities dominated by the nuclear family, many living in impersonal city apartment blocks.
Under the collectivized system in rural areas, communes, brigades and teams were not only responsible for agricultural production but also for many other community affairs, meaning a high level of social interaction for all.
In today's economic climate, sons and daughters are more likely to have moved long distances from the countryside to the city or from one city to another in search of work, often leaving their parents behind.
They can work long hours, juggling childcare with the demands of full-time work, and although they send money home, visits can be infrequent.
Lead study author Dr Keming Yang, a Durham University sociologist who hails from China's third largest city, Tianjin, said: "While economic development has brought many benefits for China, such as better standards of living, loneliness is one of its negative effects."
"Experience of capitalist societies to date suggests it is very likely that many other sections of the population, especially young people who are under huge amounts of pressure at school and home, are feeling the same sense of isolation," said Dr Yang.
Co-author professor Christina Victor, of the University of Reading, said: "Levels of loneliness in China are now comparable, or higher than, those observed in Western Europe; therefore, this is not just a problem seen in developed countries."
Dr Yang said a potential solution for the Chinese authorities to tackle loneliness in the elderly was to ensure the local community played a greater role in engaging older people in social and group activities, although this would require some financial support.
(The author is media relations manager of the Durham University.)
Although a market economy has brought prosperity to China, it has also caused the weakening of a traditional society that had collectivism and strong family ties at its heart.
The study by Durham University and the University of Reading, both in the UK, published in Ageing and Society, examined in detail two surveys of Chinese people aged 60 years and over in 1992 and 2000.
The percentage of older people who said they were lonely has doubled from about 16 percent in 1992 to 30 percent in 2000.
The surveys used for the study were the Survey of the Support System for the Elderly in China (1992) and the Survey of the Aged Population in China (2,000).
Differences in the design of the two studies mean they cannot be used as an exact comparison but they are the best statistical indication to date of the problem of loneliness.
The study authors point out that more detailed research is needed to obtain a more accurate picture outlining the extent of the loneliness problem.
While loneliness can severely impact a person's quality of life, it can also be a triggering factor for mental health issues.
The findings suggest that policy makers in China need to take urgent action to assess what is needed to improve the quality of life for its 140 million older people, who collectively amount to the largest older population in the world.
The Durham and Reading University study suggests potential causes for loneliness include a widespread move since the late 1970s from highly collectivized communities, where several generations lived under one roof in close proximity to their neighbors, to communities dominated by the nuclear family, many living in impersonal city apartment blocks.
Under the collectivized system in rural areas, communes, brigades and teams were not only responsible for agricultural production but also for many other community affairs, meaning a high level of social interaction for all.
In today's economic climate, sons and daughters are more likely to have moved long distances from the countryside to the city or from one city to another in search of work, often leaving their parents behind.
They can work long hours, juggling childcare with the demands of full-time work, and although they send money home, visits can be infrequent.
Lead study author Dr Keming Yang, a Durham University sociologist who hails from China's third largest city, Tianjin, said: "While economic development has brought many benefits for China, such as better standards of living, loneliness is one of its negative effects."
"Experience of capitalist societies to date suggests it is very likely that many other sections of the population, especially young people who are under huge amounts of pressure at school and home, are feeling the same sense of isolation," said Dr Yang.
Co-author professor Christina Victor, of the University of Reading, said: "Levels of loneliness in China are now comparable, or higher than, those observed in Western Europe; therefore, this is not just a problem seen in developed countries."
Dr Yang said a potential solution for the Chinese authorities to tackle loneliness in the elderly was to ensure the local community played a greater role in engaging older people in social and group activities, although this would require some financial support.
(The author is media relations manager of the Durham University.)
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