Wang Haitao, an associate researcher of the aging Public Policy Research Office of China Aging Science Research Center, analyzed that some parents who lost their single child have strong economic ability and basically don't have to worry about the pension money. Their problem is that it is difficult to cure their emotional trauma and buy appropriate pension services even though they have money.

        Li Yulan, 54, has almost no communication with the outside world except a QQ chat. Li Yulan's 26 year old son died in a car accident 100 days ago,, which also changed the trajectory of her life.

        Elderly have no one to rely on

        Collection: Mai Yongsheng   Editor: favy

        Pictures from the Internet

　　今年已74岁的上海老人张梅（化名），说什么都不愿意去养老院，而她已经独居生活了28年。对于张梅而言，独居的生活并不只是适应那么简单。

Zhang Mei (a pseudonym), a 74 year old man in Shanghai, said she didn't want to go to the nursing home, and she has lived alone for 28 years. For Zhang Mei, living alone is not just adaptation.

　　张梅对本报记者说，30年前，她18岁的女儿因病去世，又过了2年，她的丈夫在丧女之痛中郁郁离世，家里就剩下她一人，家还是那个熟悉的家，她希望能够在家里终老。

Zhang Mei told our reporter that her 18-year-old daughter died of illness 30 years ago . Two years later, her husband passed away in the pain of bereavement losing her daughter. She was the only one left in the family. Her home was still the familiar home. She hoped to die at home.

　　但这对于一个瘦小的女人而言，存在着更多的不易。让张梅记忆深刻的一个生活细节，便是换电灯泡，张梅无法应付，在过去，往往总是要求助于邻居，但她却纠结于，这并非是一个长久之计。

But for a thin woman, there are more difficulties. One of the life details that Zhang Mei remembers deeply is to change the light bulb. Zhang Mei couldn't cope. In the past, she always asked her neighbors to help , but she was obsessed that it is not a long-term plan.

　　居家养老难，去养老院同样也不能回避一些困难。清华大学一位不愿透露姓名的潘姓老教授便遭遇过这一幕——在失去独子后，潘教授希望能找到一个养老院生活，但却被拒绝，理由则是，必须由子女签字做监护人才可以接收。

It is difficult to provide home-based care for the elderly, and some difficulties cannot be avoided when going to nursing agents. An old professor Pan of Tsinghua University who asked not to be named, encountered this scene. After losing his only son, Professor Pan hoped to find a nursing home, but he was rejected because it’s necessary to be signed by children as guardians.

　　本报记者了解到，监护人问题也是失独老人最棘手的问题。北京怀柔一家养老机构的负责人表示，他们对接收这样的老人比较谨慎，一般而言，需要至少两位远房亲戚签字担保才可以入住。

Our reporter learned that the guardian problem is also the most difficult problem for the elderly who have lost their single-child. The head of a nursing institution in Huairou, Beijing, said that they are more cautious about receiving such old people. Generally speaking, they need at least two distant relatives to sign a guarantee before they move in.

　　“万一将来老人神志不清了，或者说缴费续不上，我们怎么办？这对我们来说，确实是一个很大的风险。”上述负责人说。

"What shall we do in case the old man is out of his mind in the future, or the payment can not be renewed? This is really a big risk for us. " The person in charge said.

　　本报记者以社区服务人员的身份咨询朝阳区一家养老机构时，工作人员表示，必须有一位法律认可的监护人签字才可以入住，若没有亲戚，社区服务人员或其他人员愿意做老人的监护人来签字也可以。

When our reporter consulted an elderly care institution in Chaoyang District as a community service personnel, the staffs said that they must have the signature of a legally recognized as guardian before they move in. If they have no relatives, it is OK that community service personnel or other personnel are willing to be the guardian of the elderly to sign.

　　上述工作人员介绍说，具体的做法是，到辖区派出所，开一张认可其做老人监护人的证明书，养老院再据此给老人办理入住。然而，“由于要承担一定风险，一般来说极少有人愿意给非亲非故的老人做监护人。”在他所在的养老院，类似案例尚未遇到过。

The staffs said that the specific approach is to go to the local police station and issue a certificate that recognizes him as the guardian of the elderly, and the nursing home will check in the elderly accordingly. However, "due to taking certain risks, generally speaking, few people are willing to be guardians for the unrelated elderly." In his nursing home, similar cases have not yet been encountered.

　　中国老龄科研中心副主任党俊武表示，正在修订的《老年法》也关注到失独老人的养老问题，关于入住养老院的具体问题将会在实施细则中加以明确。

Dang Junwu, deputy director of China Aging Research Center, said that the revised “Law on the Elderly” also pays attention to the care of the elderly who have lost their single child, and the specific problems about admission to nursing homes will be clarified in the implementation rules.

　　能否跨过养老院的门槛只是众多挑战之一，失独老人还要面对经济上的压力。据本报记者了解，目前北京市场化的养老机构收费大多在每月2500元到5000元，相形之下，2011年北京市企业退休人员月最低养老金仅为1100元，平均水平在2268元。

Whether they can cross the threshold of nursing homes is one of many challenges. The elderly    "losing single child" still have to face economic pressure. According to our reporter, at present, the charges of market-oriented pension institutions in Beijing are mostly 2500 yuan to 5000 yuan per month. In contrast, the minimum monthly pension for enterprise retirees in Beijing in 2011 was only 1100 yuan, with an average level of 2268 yuan.

　　由于中国养老金的替代率（养老金与退休前收入之比）较低，退休之后引起的老年贫困现象越发突出，而失独老人完全没有来自儿女的赡养金，来自于生活资金上的压力可想而知。

As the low replacement rate of China's pension (the ratio of pension to pre-retirement income) is low, the poverty of the elderly caused by retirement is becoming more and more prominent. The living pressure is conceivable because the elderly losing single child have no alimony from their children.

　　中国老龄科学研究中心老龄公共政策研究室副研究员王海涛分析称，有部分失独父母经济能力较强，基本上不用担心养老钱的问题，他们的问题在于情感创伤难以医治、有钱难以购买到合适的养老服务。

Wang Haitao, an associate researcher of the aging Public Policy Research Office of China Aging Science Research Center, analyzed that some elderly losing single-child have strong economic ability and basically don't have to worry about the pension money. But their problem is that it is difficult to cure their emotional trauma and buy appropriate elderly care services with money.

　　另外一部分则属于经济困难的，尤其是在农村，失独父母的养老困境更加突出。

The other elderly is in economic difficulties, especially in rural areas, the pension dilemma of elderly losing single child is more prominent.

　　根据2000年全国第5次人口普查数据，中国农村有过一个孩子但现在无子女的家庭达57万。而全国老龄工作委员会7月10日发布的《2010年中国城乡老年人口状况追踪调查主要数据报告》显示，农村养老保障覆盖率只有34.6%，月均养老金74元，仅为城市老年人平均月退休金（1527元）的近5%。

According to the data from the fifth national census in 2000, there are 570,000 families in rural China had one child but have no children now. “2010 China Urban and Rural Elderly Population Tracking Survey Main Data Report” released by the National Commission on aging on July 10 shows that the coverage rate of rural elderly security is only 34.6%, and the average monthly pension is 74 yuan, which is only nearly 5% of the average monthly pension of urban elderly (1527 yuan).