Empirical Research On Rural Mutual Support For The Aged From The Perspective Of Embeddedness Theory

By the end of 2021,the elderly population aged 60 or above in China will reach 267 million,accounting for 18.9 percent of the total population.It is expected that by 2035,the elderly population aged 60 or above will exceed 400 million,accounting for more than 30 percent of the total population,entering the stage of severe aging.In recent years,the rural pension problem is increasingly serious.At present,the traditional family pension is not enough to meet the needs of the elderly,the socialized pension service is insufficient,and the pension institutions develop slowly and face many obstacles.In this context,rural mutual support for the aged gradually developed.This study combines the embeddedness theory and adopts the method of questionnaire survey and field research to analyze the embeddedness of mutual care for the elderly in rural society,hoping to provide valuable reference information for improving the quality of elderly care services.Based on the embedding theory,this study takes the practice of mutual care for the elderly embedded in rural society in Dongbao District,Jingmen City as an example,and uses questionnaire survey and field interview to explore the specific practice.Through the analysis of questionnaire results and interviews,according to the different organization subjects,Dongbao District rural mutual support for the elderly can be divided into four types: government-led type,elderly association type,market organization type and village collective initiative type.Combined with embeddedness theory,the practical process and generation mechanism of the four types are analyzed.Through the analysis of questionnaires and interviews,the operation effects of Dongbao District’s mutual care for the elderly embedded in rural society are as follows:improving the service quality of rural care,enhancing the happiness of the rural elderly,reducing the burden of the government’s pension,and helping the implementation of the rural revitalization strategy.However,there are still multiple "disembedment" in the embedding of mutual aid pension in rural society,which are manifested as the disembedment of institution,resources and cognition.The reasons for decoupling are insufficient embeddedness support.Based on the problems and root causes of mutual aged care embedding in rural society in Dongbao District,this paper proposes an optimization path of cognitive re-embedding--structural re-embedding--relational re-embedding--institutional re-embedding combined with the embedment theory.Specifically,in the cognitive re-embedding part,we should attach importance to cognitive cultivation,establish correct values for the elderly,cultivate mutual aid culture,and form mutual aid values for the elderly.In the re-embedded part of the structure,make good use of information technology,improve the efficiency of mutual assistance services for the elderly,expand the way to obtain resources;In the re-embedded part of the relationship,the collaborative organization system of "government + village two committees + aging association +market subject + social voluntary group" is established according to local conditions.In the aspect of system recirculation,we should improve the rural formal mutual aid pension system,promote the evolution of rural informal mutual aid pension system,and establish a supporting mechanism for the implementation of mutual aid pension system.