The Macau Federation of Trade Unions conducted between May and last month a “Survey on the Preference and Demand for Senior Citizens in the Greater Bay Area for Retired Life”, the findings of which shows about one-third of the respondents indicating their intention to migrate to the mainland cities in the Greater Bay Area after they retire, while the remainder pointed out that the differences in living habits, healthcare facilities, social security, family relationship and living environment had hindered them from thinking of retiring in the mainland.
Jointly conducted by the union (commonly known as Gung Luen in Cantonese) and its social services committee together with the Macao Observatory for Social Development of the University of Saint Joseph (USJ), the survey collected 628 valid questionnaires by local residents aged between 60 and 74, of whom more than 60 percent are retired or pre-retired, with over 95 percent saying their usual place of residence is Macau, while only 0.3 percent reside in the mainland.
The findings of the survey were released by respective representatives of the survey conductors, including directly-elected lawmaker-cum-Gung Luen vice president Ella Lei Cheng I, on Gung Luen premises in Toi San district.
According to the findings, among the respondents who expressed their intention to consider retiring in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area outside Macau and Hong Kong, i.e., the nine mainland cities of Dongguan, Foshan, Guangzhou, Huizhou, Jiangmen, Shenzhen, Zhaoqing, Zhongshan and Zhuhai, more than 80 percent of them preferred Zhuhai as a place retire, with healthcare level, consumption level and air quality being the three major factors of greatest concern to the respondents. Zhongshan and Jiangmen ranked second and third respectively, the findings noted.
The survey was aimed at systematically looking into the intention and needs of local elderly people to retire in the Greater Bay Area (GBA) of the mainland, providing empirical evidence for relevant policy formulation. Apart from focusing on the respondents’ intention to retire in the mainland, the survey also features respondents’ concerns when choosing community or residential care homes for senior citizens, as well as the issues that they are most worried about when retiring in the mainland.
The findings point out that nearly 60 percent of the respondents intend to have aged-care at home, with only less than 10 percent preferring residential care homes. The three major concerns of the respondents about retiring in the mainland’s community or residential care homes are “insufficient healthcare resources”, “inadequate social support” and “high costs”, accounting for about 66 percent, 50 percent, and 39 percent respectively.
According to the findings, more than 60 percent of the respondents had a “relatively low” level of understanding of the local government’s measures and legislation on elderly care in the Greater Bay Area. When asked about their needs for cross-border elderly care services, respondents identified medical and health management, daily living and in-home care, as well as social activities and spiritual support, standing at about 64 percent, 43 percent and 29 percent respectively, with nearly half of the respondents supporting the government’s promotion the development and application of “smart elderly care”.
In concluding the findings of the survey, Lei suggested that the government should set up new pilot points in areas such as Zhuhai to deepen and expand home-based community care services in the mainland, strengthen community cooperation, perfect the social support system for the elderly in the mainland’s Greater Bay Area, ensuring that the elderly have the “right” to choose the place where they spend their twilight years.
Representatives of the Macau Federation of Trade Unions (MFTU or FAOM – aka Gung Luen in Cantonese) and its social services committee, as well as the Macao Observatory for Social Development of the University of Saint Joseph (USJ), including lawmaker-cum-unionist Ella Lei Cheng I (centre), pose on the sidelines of yesterday’s press conference about the findings of a survey regarding senior citizens’ preference and their needs after retirement in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area, on Gung Luen premises in Toi San district. – Photo: Gung Luen
