Presentation Schedule
Community-Based Elder Care in Post-Pandemic China: Evidence from Community Z in Beijing (102755)
Session Chair: Gloria Tam
Wednesday, 25 March 2026 13:20
Session: Session 3
Room: Room 708 (7F)
Presentation Type: Oral Presentation
China has entered a stage of “moderate aging,” with population aging and the rising proportion of the oldest-old placing increasing pressure on elder care. To address this challenge, China has drawn on Japan’s experience and promoted community-based elder care as a model that mobilizes government, societa and familial resources. Based on fieldwork in Community Z during 2021–2022, the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in China, and a follow-up visit in 2025, this study finds that the practice of community-based elder care has encountered significant obstacles. Many elder care centers closed during lockdowns and failed to reopen, leaving the aged without promised services. Those that survived face structural imbalances between supply and demand, declining service quality, and limited functional scope—for example, the elder care center in Community Z operating primarily as low-cost canteens rather than comprehensive care providers. Moreover, the centers are shaped by complex networks of social actors and relationships, which further influence their development trajectories. The findings suggest that while community-based elder care remains a sound policy direction, unresolved structural issues undermine its effectiveness in the post-pandemic context. Greater attention from both policymakers and scholars is needed to examine these challenges and to advance the long-term sustainability of community-based elder care in China.
Authors:
Haoyu Liu, Minzu University of China, China
About the Presenter(s)
Ms Haoyu Liu is currently a Ph.D student at Minzu University of China.
See this presentation on the full schedule – Wednesday Schedule
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