Recently, the topic of ‘China’s One-person households reaches 125 million’ has been hot on the Internet. As a result, it’s causing discussions among netizens. Someone asked, why is the size of one-person households so large? What challenges and opportunities will it bring to the economy and society? How to deal with it? A few days ago, Feng Wenmeng, director and researcher of the Research Office of the Social Development Research Department of the Development Research Center of the State Council, explained the above-mentioned issues.
There are more than 125 million ‘one-person households’, accounting for more than 25%. What does this data mean?
Feng Wenmeng, researcher and director of the Research Office of the Social Development Research Department of the Development Research Center of the State Council, said: China has 125 million single-person households, which is very large, accounting for more than 25%, and it is not low in international comparisons.
In terms of structure, the current one-person households in my country are mainly composed of two parts, one is an elderly single-person family, that is, a family living alone among the elderly, and the other is a young single-person family.
With the increase of average life expectancy, the differentiation of intergenerational values, and the rise of celibacy, the scale and proportion of single-person households in my country continue to expand. This is an inevitable trend of social development. Bad to qualify. But for its proportion and the speed of its rise, the whole society should attach great importance to it.
The number of people living alone in society is increasing day by day. What are the reasons behind it?
Feng Wenmeng said that single-person households now account for 1/4 of all households. There are many economic and social reasons behind it. From the specific content, the reasons for the increase of single-person households among the elderly and young people are different.
In terms of single-person households for the elderly, with the continuous development of aging and the advancement of medical technology, the number and proportion of the elderly are also further increasing. On the whole, the average life expectancy of women is higher than that of men. If one of the elderly couples dies first, an elderly person will be left behind and become a single-living household. At the same time, due to changes in family values and differences in intergenerational values, the proportion of children living together with the elderly is getting lower and lower. These factors have led to a further increase in the number and proportion of single-living households among the elderly.
In terms of young single-person households, many young people choose to live alone in the early stages of employment. On the one hand, this is due to the fact that most young people belong to the cross-regional mobile employment. And they objectively cannot live with their parents; The desire for independent and free space, when conditions permit, the proportion of living alone without parents is also further increasing.
The average household population falls below 3 and the scale of ‘one-person households’ increases. What challenges will it bring to Chinese society?
Feng Wenmeng said that the problems and challenges brought about by the continuous growth of single-person households have gradually become prominent, mainly reflected in:
One is the problem of insufficient supply of family pensions. The increase in the number of elderly people living alone requires the accelerated development of home-based and community-based elderly care. The second is the question of whether psychological comfort can be obtained. The third is the weak sense of family responsibility among young people. In general, young people living alone are less connected to their families, and their willingness to take on family responsibilities becomes weaker over time. Fourth, issues affecting fertility and population development.
What new opportunities will the increase in ‘one-person households’ bring to the economy and society?
Feng Wenmeng said that with the increase in the number of single-person households, the single-person economy has shown a rapid development momentum in recent years, and some new demands have burst out, and some new products, new services, new industries and new business models have also been born. In the future, there will be more business models dedicated to serving people living alone.
In addition, people living alone need emotional sustenance. And industries such as pets that can provide spiritual sustenance will also usher in great development. There are also intelligent butlers, companion robots, etc. will also become promising areas. In short, in the single economy, personalized, exclusive and quality consumption scenarios will be more popular.
Technically, it’s a good business opportunity for many industries. For example, pet food. And to fully explore the potential, please let Deep Digital China help you.