Page 44 - IJPS-11-5

International Journal of

Population Studies

RESEARCH ARTICLE
Need for social services among disabled Chinese

older adults in urban and rural areas

Haiyan Zhu * and Danan Gu 2
1
1 Department of Sociology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia,
United States of America
2 United Nations Population Division, New York, United States of America

Abstract

Using data from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey from 2005 to
2018, we examined the need for social services among disabled older adults in rural
and urban China. Social services were classified into two types: Basic care and social
connection. The Andersen model and ordered logistic regressions were employed to
estimate how predisposing, enabling, and need factors are associated with the need
for social services. We found significant rural–urban differences in the need for social
services and its associates. Rural older adults reported a greater need for both types
of services than their urban counterparts. Economic independence was associated
with a decreased need for both types of services in urban residents; severe disability in
activities of daily living was associated with increased need for both types of services
in urban areas; coresidence with children was associated with decreased need for basic
care services in both rural and urban areas. The findings suggest that developing social
services is urgent in rural China to mitigate the decline of traditional family care.
*Corresponding author:
Haiyan Zhu
(zhuh09@vt.edu) Keywords: Social services; Older adults; Care need; Aging care; Eldercare; Chinese
Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey; China
Citation: Zhu, H. & Gu, D. (2025).
Need for social services among
disabled Chinese older adults in
urban and rural areas. International
Journal of Population Studies, 1. Introduction
11(5): 38-52.
https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.448 The population of mainland China (hereafter China) is rapidly aging due to declining
Received: January 20, 2023 fertility and substantial improvement in life expectancy (National Bureau of Statistics of
Accepted: February 23, 2024 China, 2022; United Nations, 2022). The total population aged 65 and older in China is
projected to reach 395 million in 2050, rising from 180 million in 2020 (United Nations,
Published online: July 1, 2025
2022). This growth in the Chinese older adult population is associated with a rapid
Copyright: © 2025 Author(s). increase in the number of older adults with disabilities in activities of daily living (ADLs)
This is an Open-Access article
distributed under the terms of the and the need for long-term care (LTC) services. Several studies have projected that the
Creative Commons Attribution number of people aged 65 and older with difficulty performing at least one of six ADLs
License, permitting distribution, and needing LTC could increase by as much as 2.5 times from 2023 to 2030 and 5 times
and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is from today to 2050 (Zou et al., 2024). Disabilities in ADLs decrease older adults’ ability
properly cited. to care for themselves and increase their need for assistance from others (Cox, 2005).
Publisher’s Note: AccScience To maintain their well-being, many older adults require support and care from family
Publishing remains neutral with members and/or society. Given the sheer size of the older population and the increased
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional need for care, strategies are urgently needed to provide proper support and care to older
affiliations. adults in China.

Volume 11 Issue 5 (2025) 38 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.448