A city in eastern China’s Jiangsu province has passed new regulations granting workers extra paid leave to care for elderly parents, the latest in a series of moves by local governments to adapt to the pressures of rapid population aging.

Yangzhou introduced the new policy as part of a wider package of measures announced on Oct. 12, which is being described as the country’s first local regulation specifically dedicated to improving the lives of the elderly.

Population aging is a particularly pressing issue in Yangzhou. The city of 4.5 million has one of the highest proportions of elderly residents in the country, with 28.6% of its population aged 60 or over, according to local officials.

But the issue is far from unique to Yangzhou. The number of over-60s in China has surged in recent years, reaching 21.1% in 2023, up from 14.9% a decade earlier.

Local authorities across the country are scrambling to adapt to the changing needs of a graying society. Yangzhou’s new regulation covers a whole series of policy areas including elder care, medical insurance, transportation, and employment law.

“Actively addressing the aging population is crucial to safeguarding overall high-quality development, the well-being of local people, and the harmony and stability of society,” Peng Suning, director of the office of legislative affairs of the Standing Committee of the Yangzhou Municipal People’s Congress, said at a press conference on Friday.

Building on Jiangsu’s existing provincial regulations, the measures stipulate that workers will be entitled to five days of extra paid annual leave per year to take care of parents who have been hospitalized with an illness.

The new policy, which will come into effect on Jan. 1, 2025, will also give residents aged 65 or over free access to government-run tourist attractions and public transportation, as well as preferential services inside stations and designated seating on buses, trains, and other forms of public transport. Previously, only residents aged 70 or over enjoyed these benefits in Yangzhou.

According to the new regulations, medical institutions in the city should establish preferential channels for senior citizens to book and attend hospital appointments. Some larger hospitals will be required to set up specialized geriatric departments offering comprehensive geriatric assessments and consultation services.

Many other Chinese localities have introduced similar measures in recent years. There has been a growing trend for local governments to grant paid caregiving leave, especially to only children, who lack siblings to share the burden of caring for aging parents.

The eastern Anhui province, for example, requires employers to grant workers varying levels of extra paid leave to care for their hospitalized elderly relatives depending on the employee’s family situation.

If the employee is an only child, they are entitled to a total of 20 days of nursing leave per year. If they have siblings, they are entitled to only seven days.

In Xi’an, the capital of the northwestern Shaanxi province, workers who are only children are also entitled to 20 days of paid annual leave to care for hospitalized parents.

(Header image: VCG)