Minority Areas Of Rural Old-age Issues In The Context Of Economic Changes

In the contemporary world, the aging problem is becoming more and more serious because it is related to the livelihood and the national development. China is a big agricultural country with a large population and its aging population is mainly in the rural areas. The aging problem in such areas is crucial to China's future. The solution of the aging problem in the rural minority area has great and special significance, which is related not only to the sustainable economic development and the construction of a harmonious society, but also to our national unity and social stability because a healthy and harmonious society should take care of the aged.This research is a case study of Qingkou Village of Yuanyang County in Yunnan Province of China. It is worthwhile to do this research because this typical Hani village is experiencing dramatic changes in the transitional period. This research can help us have a further understanding of the aged and the aging problem in this village and by extension it can shed some light on the new challenges and new problems in the rural minority areas in the context of quick socio-economic changes, which should have some theoretical and practical significance to the solution of the aging problem of the inority groups and the construction of a new socialist countryside and a harmonious society.The paper is divided into five parts. The first is the introduction, which includes the research background, purpose, methodology, framework and significance as well as the international and domestic studies on the aging problem.Chapter One is about the research site, that is, Qingkou Village, including its geographical environment, its traditional agriculture-based economy, its present economic status and its traditional pension culture.Chapter Two focuses on the economic changes and social security model of Qingkou Village. It analyzes its rapid development of tourism, the changes in the internal structure of agriculture, the development of agricultural and sideline industries, other service industries and the rapid development of wage-based economy. It discusses the pension status in this village from both the socio-economic perspective and the status of the existing pension system. It also points out the dilemmas of its traditional pension model in the context of great economic changes though this model functioned fairly well in the context of their traditional life-style and family-based system.Chapter Three offers the possible solutions to solving the aging problem in this village, which includes the adherence to the traditional family-based pension model, the quick economic development for improving their income plus the village-based and the government-supported pension model.Chapter Four concludes that the family-based model can play a role only in the transitional period in the process of agricultural industrialization and urbanization, and the social security model is the final solution to the aging problem.