Analysis Of Elderly Welfare Provision In Gender Perspective

Population aging brings a series of new demands and challenges to elderly welfare provision. Accelerated aging of the population and new features of family structure changes overlap, then with the rapid development of industrialization, new urbanization accompanied, also with economic restructuring, changes in the social transition intertwined. The contradiction between the rapidly growing demand for social pension and elderly welfare lagging supply level will become even more prominent. In this context, China began to reform elderly welfare provision systems gradually, but there are poor elderly women here and there in the case of enhancing the overall level of welfare. Female impoverishment and the feminization of poverty is notable. Gender theory provides a powerful perspective also a tool to understand and analyze features of this phenomenon.As an important theoretical paradigm to analyze social relations between men and women, gender theory requires people to notice unequal situation, the interests and rights between different gender groups when observe, analyze and deal with things, and to take measures and actions to promote gender equality. Gender analysis helps to identify gender blind spot of the existing system and to promote gender awareness into elderly welfare provision system design. In order to focus on elderly welfare reform process in China, we should pay attention to the impact of gender on elderly welfare provision systems, which helps to expand the research of elderly welfare provision.Based on combing and understanding the current situation of China’s elderly welfare provision, I summarize the changes in China’s elderly welfare provision mode, enumerate and review related supply system, then apply gender perspective in review and analysis of elderly welfare provision on four elements. Specific ideas are as follows, from the current situation, the supply of elderly welfare as a whole still remains at a relatively low level of security. Income and medical care mainly rely on the corresponding social insurance which are pension and medical insurance. Care, nursing and spiritual consolation are still relatively lacking, mainly relying on family and community self-supply. The government mainly play an advocacy and guidance role, with large regional differences. From the vertical historical perspective of the development, a trend of China’s elderly welfare is from the government to the unit and then to socialization of supply, but these systems are primarily based on the formal labor relations. For a long time, Rural China has relied on family and self-supply, and now the new reform initiatives are trying to bridge this gap. However, from a gender perspective, China’s elderly welfare provision as a whole is still a lack of gender awareness, ignoring the gender perspective. Design system does not only neglect the needs of the differences between men and women, but also lack of full understanding of gender inequality already existing, naturally overlooked different results of welfare policies for gender, which cause indeed damage to the interests of women. To narrow the gender gap and promote gender equity, gender awareness must be incorporated into the system construction of elderly welfare provision, and implement all aspects of the promotion of gender equity, from the supply mainstay, supply object, supply content and supply mode.It is a historical and time-consuming process to achieve gender-based elderly welfare supply mechanism and promote gender benefit in balance. This process not only need women researchers to call and explore, promotion of gender mainstreaming, but also need the government, market, community, family and every citizen’s gender awareness raising to work together and make a joint effort.