Gender structures the entire life-cycle, from birth to old age, influencing access to resources and opportunities and shaping life choices at every stage. The relevance of gender is both ongoing and cumulative – the different circumstances that shape the lives of women and men in old age are the outcome of many different opportunities, challenges and constraints that have gone before. The gender composition of the elderly is different from that of the total population - and it changes over time. The proportion of women among the elderly is higher than in the total population and has been rising. It will continue to rise further and faster as the population ages. This matters for policy because the requirements and sources of support differ systemically between men and women. Compared with men, a much smaller proportion of women have a social insurance pension. Unlike most countries in the world, the Chinese pension system does not provide a survivor benefit. The impact of this has more effect on women than men, because men enjoy a better pension provision than women do. Not only do women not receive survivor’s benefit on their husband’s death, they also live longer. This seminar will analyse the gender dimension of the aging process in China and draw the implications for policy.

Dr Yi Ding is a Post-doctoral Visiting Fellow at the LSE Asia Research Centre. She received her PhD and MA from Renmin University, Beijing, China. Dr Ding’s previous research focused on health care work, family caregiving, aging and long-term care policy, and gender and health policy. She is currently working on gender and diversity policy, and demographic change in China.

Professor Athar Hussain| is Director of the LSE Asia Research Centre.

Additional Information

This event is free and open to all with no ticket required. Entry is on a first come, first served basis. Please direct any queries to arc@lse.ac.uk| or call 020 7955 7615.

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