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rvatively estimated that the size of the “ floating population” (“ temporary” migrants) reached nearly 79 million, according to the 2020 census tabulation (Liang and Ma 2020). Taking outmigration into account, Wang and Mason (Forthing) found that aging in rural China would occur much faster and sooner, with the proportion of the population aged 65+ reaching the level of the current urban population as early as 2020. 4 Trend of Living Arrangements Studies on living arrangements of the elderly population are essential to understand the structure of kin availability for support. Because coresidence with family members often means they are more likely to receive support, living arrangements were often viewed as an indicator for wellbeing, despite mixed empirical findings on the relationship between living arrangements and health (Lawton et al. 1984。 Zunzunegui et al. 2020). Using census and survey data collected around2020, Zeng et al. (Forthing) macrosimulated thetrend in elderly living arrangements under the mediumassumptions on fertility, mortality, ruralurban migration,marriage and divorce. Despite being a conservativeestimate (given that it does not take changingpreference into account), their projection showed thatthe average household size would decrease from per household in 2020 to in 2020 and 2050 and that the proportion of the elderly aged 65+ living in “ emptynest” households would triple that of the 2020 level. 5 Government and Institutional Support for Elderly As described above, the traditional family structureand family support system has undergone some major shifts in China. Facing the possibility of an undermined informal old age support system, it is imperative for the government to strengthen its role in public support. In the following section we outline three systems at different stages of policy development,