Early in the morning, after doing morning exercise, Li and her husband first give a phone call to the Community Rehabilitation Center for the Aged to inquire about knowledge of heatstroke prevention, then hurry to participate in the choral rehearsal in the activity center for the elderly.

In Tianjin, there are many such "elderly families" as that of Li Baoqing, who lead a solitary life because their children have left them for the need to go to school, to work and to move elsewhere after marriage. The proportion of such families to those with old people ranks first in the country.

According to a survey conducted by Tianjin Academy of Social Sciences, commission for old people and statistic bureau among 2,821 families with old people in the city's urban and rural areas, presently, "elderly families" account for 55,06 percent in Tianjin's cities and towns, and 40.78 percent in its rural areas, with the average figure standing at 47.92 percent in urban and rural areas. Materials show that the proportion of "elderly families" accounts for 34 percent in Beijing and 36.8 percent in Shanghai.

Statistics show that "elderly families" have constituted one-fourth of all Chinese families with old people, and the proportion is still rising gradually.

With the development of the economy and decrease in birthrate, the trend of small families has been developing at an accelerated pace, and the family structure is becoming increasingly of a mono-type in China, the percentage of three-member "Nuclear Family" is rising continuously, the gap between the two generations in the conception of values and life styles is widening, and change is taking place in the pattern of traditional families and cases of two generations living separately are on the increase. A survey conducted among newly wedded families shows that the number of such families wherein husband and wife live singly had risen from 33.2 percent in 1992 to 68 percent in 1999.

(People's Daily)