---
title: "The Overlooked Silver-Haired Consumer | Qingshan Capital 2025 Annual Research Report"
description: "Aging is an unavoidable game of time. As a large population enters old age, aging is no longer a distant statistical proposition. This report from Qingshan Capital's investment research center examines the often-ignored and misunderstood silver-haired consumer market in China, revealing the immense heterogeneity among the elderly and challenging prevailing narratives that either fear or exploit them."
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# The Overlooked Silver-Haired Consumer | Qingshan Capital 2025 Annual Research Report

> Aging is an unavoidable game of time. As a large population enters old age, aging is no longer a distant statistical proposition. This report from Qingshan Capital's investment research center examines the often-ignored and misunderstood silver-haired consumer market in China, revealing the immense heterogeneity among the elderly and challenging prevailing narratives that either fear or exploit them.

### **Source** | Qingshan Capital **ID** | cyanhillvc Author | Qingshan Investment Research Center

Aging is an unavoidable game of time. When hair, memory, and a sense of presence dwindle, when the time and freedom once craved become overwhelming, when the rhythm of life becomes sparse and gentle, and when large numbers of people enter old age, aging is no longer a distant statistical proposition.

A group is rapidly expanding, continuously challenging our society. But setting aside existing assumptions and stereotypes, do we truly understand them?

Some fear aging, reading it as exit and invisibility; they say "the elderly have no desires, no worries." Others are greedy, viewing silver hair as an untapped blue ocean; they say "the elderly spend an average of four hours online daily" and "almost all elderly use skincare products."

When reality is filled with neglect and misunderstanding, when data is riddled with bias and falsehood, when fear and greed intertwine into a common narrative, is the truth amplified or obliterated?

Whose lives do the various market surveys reflect, and whose stories are omitted? When institutions, services, and products are designed with "the elderly" as the target, are we responding to real needs or satisfying the imaginations of researchers and merchants?

In this report, "Old, Without 'Dependence' | Qingshan Capital 2025 Annual Research Report," we aim to get closer to the elderly. To see the systematic neglect of the elderly by the public, to deconstruct the internal divisions hidden by the unified narrative of old age, so that our understanding of "old" no longer rests on "baseless" imagination. (Apologies for the pun in the report title.)

The world is no longer young

Global population structure is undergoing profound and sustained transformation. Over the past 50 years (since 1975), the median age in developed economies has increased from 30 to 43 years, and in emerging economies from 19 to 30 years. In the next 50 years (to 2075), the median age in developed economies will reach 47 years, and in emerging economies 40 years.

Meanwhile, gains in life expectancy have not stopped. Over the past 50 years, global average life expectancy has risen from 62 to 75 years, from 72 to 82 in developed economies, and from 58 to 73 in emerging economies.

Simply put, population aging and individual longevity are advancing simultaneously. We are experiencing a profound shift from a "young majority" to an "older majority." And China's transformation is undoubtedly faster and larger in scale.

At the end of 2024, China's population aged 60 and above reached 310 million, accounting for 22.0% of the total population. Those aged 65 and above accounted for 15.6%, marking China's entry into a deeply aging society. According to UN projections, by 2050, China's population aged 65 and above will grow to approximately 370-400 million (about 26% of the population), equivalent to 1.2 times the current total population of the United States. The population aged 80 and above will reach approximately 135 million, surpassing Japan's current total population.

China is not only experiencing the largest-scale aging but also relatively rapid aging.

Horizontally, from entering an aging society (65+ population exceeding 7%) to entering a deeply aging society (65+ exceeding 14%), France took 126 years, the US 72 years, the UK 46 years, Japan 24 years, and China only 21 years.

Vertically, from 2010 to 2015, the proportion of the population aged 65+ increased by an average of 0.3 percentage points annually; from 2015 to 2019, 0.5 percentage points; and from 2020 to 2024, 0.6 percentage points. An aging society is arriving at an accelerating pace.

The definition of old age

Aging is a natural biological process experienced by almost all animals.

In primitive and agricultural societies, "the elderly" were often authorities in families and tribes, playing roles in decision-making, inheritance, and cultural memory. Old age in this period had no clear age line; it was more a symbol of social status and wisdom.

With industrialization and the establishment of nation-states, "old age" was formally invented as an institutionalized life stage. In 1889, Bismarck introduced a national pension insurance system in Germany, stipulating that people aged 70 and above could receive pensions (effective 1891, lowered to 65 in 1916).

This was the first time "the elderly" were officially defined as beneficiaries of an institution. Ironically, at that time, life expectancy in Europe was less than 40 years, making this system more of a political appeasement, a means to alleviate social contradictions.

Later, modern welfare states successively established pension standards. The World Health Organization defines those aged 60 and above as "elderly" (especially in developing countries), while in developed countries and OECD systems, 65 is the more common cutoff. In summary, the definition of old age is a product of modern institutions.

For over a century, our society has long operated on this rhythm: one generation plays, one learns, one works, and one enjoys retirement. Our definition of "old age" has long been tied to physical decline, social withdrawal, and emotional isolation. Media stereotypically depicts "slowness, stubbornness, dependence"; policies primarily use language of "care" and "burden"; and marketing tends to treat them as "non-mainstream users" or "marginal consumers."

Thus, old age has become a seemingly natural but actually artificially constructed "silent stage," and most people cannot look forward to old age as they do to youth.

When we focus on the elderly and begin to ask: who is recognized or abandoned in the digital world? Who enjoys a happy old age or lies ill in bed? We are surprised to find that various survey reports contradict each other, and behind the conflicting stories, a signal emerges: we have greatly underestimated sample bias. To understand this generation of Chinese elderly, we must confront their internal differences.

「 Part One 」This Generation of Elderly

The most complex population in China

Sample bias is not an abstract statistical term but an illusion most easily overlooked in daily life: when the camera only focuses on those with internet access, time, and purchasing power, the screen is filled with silver-haired blue oceans; when research is conducted only in nursing homes, conclusions are "medical dependence" and "long-term care"; when questionnaires are distributed only at community activity centers, results are "socially active." Under the spotlight, it seems lively and glamorous, but in the shadows, there is only silence.

Numerous silver-haired reports attempt to amplify the consumption power of the elderly with flashy samples, treating the true majority as noise to be removed. As a consumer investment institution, we know that people are the most fundamental variable in consumption and cannot be led by glossy data and conclusions.

During in-depth research, we found that the heterogeneity of this generation of Chinese elderly is far greater than we imagined. Compared with previous and subsequent generations, their internal variance is significantly larger. They can be said to be the most complex and fragmented generation.

"Aunt Li, 60, has never shopped online, while Uncle Wang, 80, has joined the ranks of short-video带货. At the same age of 70, some travel around the world annually, while others have never left their birthplace; some elderly haven't used smartphones, while others have gained millions of followers on social platforms with 'a day in the life of a high-energy senior'..." If the elderly had a label, what keyword would summarize them?

From a statistical perspective, the premise for a "group" concept is that inter-group differences are greater than intra-group differences. We can use cluster analysis to verify this, allowing samples to group automatically without preset labels, testing whether stable, interpretable "clusters" exist. However, in practice, we often encounter situations where robust grouping cannot be provided, with the most common explanation being the "curse of dimensionality."

In the context of cluster analysis, this specifically means that when samples have many feature dimensions, the core assumption of "distance measure: similar within clusters, different between clusters" that works in low-dimensional space fails, making clustering results random, meaningless, or extremely unstable.

Specifically, the low correlation between dimensions dilutes signals, making it hard to find commonalities. The more dimensions, the more combinations grow exponentially.

With multiple features intersecting, thousands of profiles emerge, each with sparse samples. Any grouping is like forcibly packing scattered points, making it difficult to form reproducible, interpretable categories. This generation of Chinese elderly precisely falls into the trap of the curse of dimensionality, explaining why different silver-haired research reports repeatedly show conflicting data.

Intra-generational heterogeneity is not unique to China, nor specific to the elderly. **But only this generation of Chinese elderly, due to drastic social changes and multiple institutional ruptures, presents an unprecedented systematic complexity, becoming the generation with the strongest heterogeneity.**

Specifically:

People of different ages may have completely different experiences. The post-50s generation experienced the Three Years of Natural Disasters in early childhood, leaving the deepest memories of hunger during their growing years. During their middle school years, when they should have been studying, they stopped classes to "make revolution." In their youth, when they should have been applying their knowledge and skills, they were in rural areas wielding hoes, receiving re-education from poor and lower-middle peasants. During rapid economic development, a large number missed this dividend due to insufficient education. The post-60s, however, caught up with the resumption of college entrance exams and educational development, entered the vibrant society of reform and opening-up in their youth, and experienced soaring housing prices, stock market fluctuations, the internet wave, and wealth divergence in middle age. The difference between the two generations is not a "quantitative" extension but a "qualitative" rupture.

The same age group may be densely diverted. During economic hardship, some retained lifelong health risks, others escaped; during the Up to the Mountains and Down to the Countryside movement, some stayed in rural areas, others returned to cities; after the resumption of college entrance exams, some crossed the single-plank bridge to change their fate through knowledge; during state-owned enterprise reform, some went into business and became first-generation entrepreneurs, some retired stably within the system, while others lost their iron rice bowl and saw their income drop a notch.

In the housing commercialization stage, some caught the last train of welfare housing, some entered early and enjoyed property appreciation, while others became "houseless." Multiple diversions have made peers increasingly distant in parallel worlds. These diversions are not one-time shocks but multiple rounds of accumulation, long-term amplifying differences in health, wealth, education, and lifestyle among peers.

The internal differences among this generation of Chinese elderly are far greater than you imagine.

Long-standing gaps in contributions between urban and rural areas, government agencies and institutions versus enterprise employees, and residents versus employees' insurance have led to deeply entrenched divergence in the income structure of the elderly. According to estimates from the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, and the National Bureau of Statistics, among nearly 300 million retired elderly in China:

  * Approximately 20 million are government agency pension recipients, accounting for about 5%, receiving an average monthly pension of 6,243 yuan.
  * Approximately 120 million are enterprise retirees, accounting for 40%, receiving an average monthly pension of 3,271 yuan.
  * Approximately 170 million are urban and rural resident pension recipients, accounting for 55%, receiving an average monthly pension of 223 yuan.

Pensions for government agencies and enterprise retirees are 28 times and 15 times those of urban and rural residents, respectively.

Differences in education, career trajectories, family structures, urban-rural environments, and physical conditions have led to unprecedented diversity in their values, behavioral patterns, and even daily choices.

Consumption most directly presents this difference. Some use consumption as a tool to extend social connections, some as compensation and comfort, and others pursue only the most pragmatic needs within limited resources. Understanding the internal differences of the elderly allows us to further study the direct extension of this difference—consumption.

A trillion-yuan blind box

According to UBS's 2024 Global Wealth Report, the "baby boomers" and the "silent generation" aged 75 and above currently hold about 20% of global total wealth.

Data from the China National Committee on Aging shows that in 2023, the cumulative wealth of China's population aged 60 and above reached 78.4 trillion yuan, with per capita wealth of approximately 264,000 yuan. Meanwhile, the savings rate of the elderly is as high as 60%, nearly double the overall household savings rate, indicating a high propensity for precautionary savings.

From a lifecycle perspective, income typically follows an inverted U-shape, peaking at ages 40-50 and then declining rapidly. However, the consumption curve is relatively flat throughout life, and may even increase in old age due to higher medical and care expenditures. This means that the elderly as a whole have both the ability to pay and sustained consumption needs.

The consumer market of 300 million+ elderly is a huge blind box waiting to be opened. But it is not a unified market; it is a complex market where tradition and modernity intertwine, and differentiation and upgrading coexist.

Multiple answers in the blind box

Different theories attempt to explain what influences consumption. Life course theory emphasizes that different birth cohorts, due to key historical events (wars, policies, economic transitions), form different values, consumption habits, and risk preferences.

The "functional ability model" commonly used in geriatrics and public health posits that functional abilities centered on ADL (Activities of Daily Living, referring to basic self-care like dressing, toileting, eating) and IADL (Instrumental Activities of Daily Living, referring to more complex social survival skills like shopping, housework) directly determine the executability of consumption behaviors and the intensity of service needs (e.g., long-term care, home modification).

The basic assumption of consumption economics is that disposable income and assets determine consumption capacity and category choices. Education and technology adoption theories suggest that education affects information acquisition and risk preferences, and digital capability determines online reach and transaction possibilities.

Considering the factors affecting consumption and the heterogeneity of the Chinese elderly, we have identified three dimensions: **Experience**, referring to consumption values and long-term preferences shaped by life experiences; **Resources**, referring to purchasing power; and **Ability**, referring to consumption execution capability.

Specifically, **Experience** fundamentally shapes values, risk preferences, information sources, and long-term consumption habits. Elderly with higher education pay more attention to brand, design, and experience, and are more receptive to digital channels; those with lower education prefer familiarity, word-of-mouth, and price.

Those who experienced economic hardship like famine tend to be more frugal, have strong savings awareness, and relatively conservative consumption concepts, while those who grew up during economic upturns are more open to novelty and more accepting of new consumer products.

Long-term urban residents are more receptive to service-oriented and experience-based consumption; those living in rural areas or small towns value necessities and price; migrants may combine both.

**Resources** represent the stock and flow of resources available for consumption. Elderly with higher and more stable incomes are more likely to engage in experiential and upgrading consumption, while low-resource elderly focus more on necessities and have high price elasticity.

**Ability** represents the capacity to turn "consumption willingness" into "actual consumption behavior," including physical function, cognitive and comprehension abilities, digital operation skills, and accessibility to services. Health status directly affects consumption in medical and health areas. Based on consumption ability, elderly consumers can be divided into autonomous, proxy, and delegated types.

For each dimension, we have selected several representative secondary indicators for easy understanding.

Since experience leads to differences in resources and abilities, and resources and abilities have a more direct impact on consumption decisions and are relatively independent, we have classified elderly consumers based on these two variables.

The classification of elderly consumers is shown in the figure below:

#### 「 Those Bright Samples 」

Undoubtedly, elderly with better resources and abilities are typical samples in consumer profiles. They often have high consumption willingness and capacity, and under the gaze of the market and capital, they constitute the most representative part of elderly consumers.

Experience Upgrade Type: High Resources × High Ability

This group typically consists of elderly with superior economic conditions, good health, and strong digital literacy. Many retired from high-paying industries or high positions within the system, have stable and generous pensions, and even own multiple properties and financial assets.

Because of good health and low dependence on children, they view retirement as a "second life," pursuing quality and differentiated experiential consumption. Their typical consumer goods include high-end travel, senior clubs, and smart wearables.

They are the high-spending group in the silver-haired tourism market, preferring wellness tourism, customized travel, and outbound travel, with average spending far exceeding ordinary elderly tourists. They are the core group of "silver-haired tourism upgrade," driving the development of cross-industry sectors like wellness real estate and medical tourism.

This group has strong social needs and hopes to rebuild social circles through clubs after retirement. For them, clubs are not just hobbies but also a continuation of identity and reproduction of social capital. They prefer high-end paid clubs such as calligraphy societies, wine salons, and golf clubs.

Additionally, this group generally possesses digital literacy and focuses on health management, making them the minority of elderly who consume smart wearable devices.

Data shows that among various assistive devices for the elderly in China, smart wearables are used by only 0.4% of the elderly, with very low penetration and high barriers to entry.

Experience Upgrade Type elderly tend to prefer international or high-end domestic brands when purchasing smart wearables, with motivations ranging from health monitoring to status symbols, often combined with sports and travel consumption.

Wellness Preferred Type: High Resources × Medium Ability

This group has substantial wealth but poor physical condition or digital capabilities. Many have chronic diseases (such as hypertension, diabetes, heart disease) or sub-health issues, and their learning ability has declined to some extent.

Their demand for medical, wellness, and care services is significantly higher than the Experience Upgrade Type. Their consumption centers on healthy living, and they are willing to pay high prices for security, making them the main consumers of high-end health products and nursing services.

Chronic diseases and health anxiety drive continuous investment in healthcare. They prefer large brands, imported or high-priced health products, with spending significantly higher than ordinary elderly, ranging from 3,000 to 10,000 yuan annually. According to the Fifth Survey on the Living Conditions of Urban and Rural Elderly in China, only 16.6% of the elderly take health products, of which only 8.9% spend 5,000 yuan or more, concentrated in this group.

As physical function declines, daily chores and care needs increase, making them more willing to spend on professional services to reduce the burden on children and ensure quality of life. They prefer professional and hired services, including live-in caregivers, various full-time nurses, and housekeeping staff.

They have high requirements for service quality and are among the few consumers willing to pay a premium for "peace of mind." According to the China Consumers Association's "2022 Elderly Care Consumption Survey Project Research Report," only 27.84% of the elderly have used daily care services like housekeeping, and 22.48% have used chronic disease diagnosis or rehabilitation care services, with the paying population mainly being high-income groups.

Quality Steady Type: Medium Resources × High Ability

This group belongs to the urban middle class, with pensions around 3,000-4,500 yuan per month, relatively stable housing, financially independent children, good health, strong self-care ability, and above-average digital literacy, proficient in WeChat, e-commerce platforms, and short videos.

Their consumption mentality emphasizes "within means, steady improvement," not blindly pursuing luxury but willing to improve quality of life within affordable range. Their core needs focus on cultural education, tourism and leisure, and home life improvement, making them the backbone of the elderly consumer market.

Quality Steady Type consumers are the main force in cultural and entertainment consumption. Better economic and physical conditions make them inclined to travel during leisure time to meet leisure and cultural experience needs. They prefer domestic short and medium-distance trips, group tours, and cultural tours, making them a stable source of customers for the silver-haired tourism market. They are also active participants in senior universities and various cultural and entertainment activities.

According to the China Association of Senior Universities, in the past five years, the number of senior universities has grown at an average annual rate of 4.7%, with about 4.3 senior universities per 10,000 people aged 65 and above.

As of April 2023, there were 76,000 senior universities nationwide, with over 20 million students. According to the "Beautiful Life Survey" by the China Media Group Research Institute, among the 11 cultural and entertainment activities surveyed in 2024, people aged 60 and above led other age groups in five activities: attending/watching sports events, exhibitions, concerts, theater, and folk arts.

Furthermore, the survey found that although young people aged 18-35 remain the absolute main force in cultural and entertainment consumption, the potential of those aged 60 and above cannot be ignored. In recent years, their consumption demand has been competing with the middle-aged group, and in 2025, they are expected to surpass the middle-aged group by 0.55 percentage points in the proportion of expected consumers.

To maintain convenience and home comfort, they tend to invest in home hardware, making them potential users of smart home devices, cars, and age-friendly home modifications. In the past decade (2014-2023), the elderly car market (55+) has been accumulating strength, with terminal sales of only 550,000 units in 2014, approaching 1 million in 2017.

In the last two to three years, it suddenly accelerated, exceeding 1.5 million in 2022 and rising to 2.27 million in 2023. In early 2025, new driving license regulations removed the age limit of 70 for C1 and C2 licenses, with those over 70 required to pass "three abilities" tests and provide medical certificates.

The new policy will directly release the driving needs of previously over-age elderly, promoting growth in the elderly car market. The elderly mainly buy cars for medical visits, picking up family members (especially grandchildren), socializing, and self-driving tours. This group tends to choose mainstream passenger cars with comfort and safety features.

Health Management Type: Medium Resources × Medium Ability

This group has decent income, covering basic living needs, and has some desire for improvement. Their physical functions have declined to some extent, often with chronic diseases (hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, etc.), and they can basically take care of themselves but have varying degrees of service needs. Their consumption focus is on healthcare and convenience services.

Their health product consumption mainly includes calcium tablets, vitamins, and protein powder, with affordable prices. According to the Survey on the Living Conditions of Urban and Rural Elderly, among elderly taking health products, 60.6% spend less than 1,000 yuan annually, constituting the main market for mass-market health products.

With age, family structures become smaller, the proportion of living alone rises, and physical decline reduces the ability and willingness of the elderly to cook.

According to the Fifth Sample Survey on the Living Conditions of Urban and Rural Elderly, about 60% of the elderly live alone or only with their spouse. Cooking seems routine, but it involves multiple steps: purchasing ingredients, sorting and storing, washing and cutting, and cleaning up. For elderly with mobility issues, weak hands, or memory decline, every step is a burden, and there may even be safety hazards. In this context, takeout and pre-made dishes have appeared on the tables of the elderly.

Meituan data shows that the average daily order volume of elderly consumers has been increasing year by year. In 2022, it grew by over 30% year-on-year, and in 2023, relevant data indicated that takeout has penetrated more than half of family scenarios, with 25% of families ordering takeout for the elderly. Children ordering remotely has become a major entry point for takeout reaching the elderly.

JD.com data shows that the purchase volume of pre-made dishes by the silver-haired group has increased year by year. From 2019 to 2021, their purchase volume grew by 190%, and people over 50 account for more than 50% of pre-made dish consumption, with 67.9% of the silver-haired having eaten pre-made dishes. The TGI for purchasing pre-made dishes is highest among those over 56. TGI is a relative propensity index; the higher the value, the higher the propensity of the target group.

Compared with the younger group's "freeing hands" and "saving time" lazy mentality, the elderly choose pre-made dishes more for functional substitution and safety considerations: they care about convenience of processing and nutritional balance, low salt and sugar, soft and easy to chew, which also raises more professional age-friendly requirements for the silver-haired pre-made dish market.

Takeout among the elderly is still "low penetration but high growth," and pre-made dishes have become a "new necessity" on silver-haired tables. Many takeout/pre-made dish orders are not placed by the elderly themselves but by their children, and family proxy purchasing amplifies the growth potential of the elderly.

The above four types of consumers are typical samples often discussed in market research and are the core paying population of the elderly consumer market.

#### **「 Those Selectively Ignored Samples 」**

Various types of elderly consumers are not evenly distributed. The media and market tend to see those "bright samples" who are healthy, have strong purchasing power, and are easily reachable through commercial channels. But a larger group is hidden beneath the iceberg—they are limited by payment ability, functional decline, digital divide, and offline reach, making it difficult for them to participate in the conventional consumer market, and they are often excluded from being consumers. If we extrapolate the potential of the elderly consumer market based only on visible samples, we are prone to systematic bias.

The consumption baseline of the elderly: conservative and pragmatic

In many reports and news narratives, the elderly are depicted as a group that "embraces novelty and enjoys spending": the camera zooms in on the smiling faces of elderly travelers, the fashionable outfits of silver-haired bloggers, and the lifestyle displays of high-end retirement communities. Such narratives have strong visual appeal but obscure the consumption concepts of the majority of the elderly.

In fact, the first principle of most elderly consumption is "spend money on the blade's edge." In a family, money is first invested in projects generally recognized as "major and with long-term returns" (children's housing, cars, weddings, etc.). These expenditures are both investments in future security and the realization of traditional family responsibilities.

Frugality is seen as a virtue, so spending must have a "legitimate reason"—tangible, visible, and long-term value is more acceptable to the elderly, while abstract or experiential services (especially subscription services whose value is hard to quantify) are often labeled as "dispensable." Compared with other groups, the elderly are more price-sensitive, and their pursuit of cost-effectiveness far outweighs brand and aesthetics.

The elderly lacking consumer education: suffering without need

This generation of elderly is caught in the historical gap of China's rapid transformation from a "production society" to a "consumption society." They experienced a long period of planned economy and material scarcity. Marketization and commercialization suddenly exploded in the latter half of their adulthood. New product channels, advertising forms, rules, and risk identification skills were not systematically taught to them through family or school, so most of them lack consumer judgment.

Social loneliness and lack of emotional support make the elderly particularly susceptible to highly customized care marketing.

So they often "suffer without need" in consumption. On one hand, they have compensatory consumption psychology when material conditions are ample; on the other hand, they cannot let go of bargain-hunting consumption. They are reluctant to spend 79.9 yuan on a buffet but will buy 100 pieces of 9.9 yuan junk, often spending a lot of money in a stingy way.

"You say he was scammed, he says you don't understand," "You say it's a three-no product, he says the factory address is printed," "You say the goddaughter/godson are fake, he says they are better than you who never come home." The phrase parents said when young, "Things online are all scams," has finally become a boomerang hitting them.

The elderly are both a huge "underserved" market and a high-return target with extreme internal differentiation, information asymmetry, and emotional fragility. When high-quality age-friendly supply has not yet formed, low-cost, easily replicable, and high-margin "elderly-trapping" businesses quickly fill the gap. After all, the cost of harvesting the elderly is really low; it may just be a few calls of "godfather/godmother" in a live stream, making countless elderly happily pay.

The reality of 80% low consumption

Among elderly consumer groups, those with low resources and low abilities account for a large proportion. Compared with the common external narrative of "silver-haired consumption upgrade," the real situation is that most elderly consumption remains at a limited, low level, and only a small number of "bright samples" support the market's imagination of elderly consumption.

In the most concerned areas of elderly consumption—health products, tourism, and elderly care—the characteristic of 80% low consumption is also very obvious.

More than 80% of the elderly do not take health products. Among those who do, more than 80% spend less than 3,000 yuan annually.

Health products have always been regarded as the most typical consumer goods for the elderly. In fact, according to the Sample Survey on the Living Conditions of Urban and Rural Elderly in China, only 16.6% of the elderly take health products, of which in 2020, 60.6% spent less than 1,000 yuan, 24.0% spent 1,000-2,999 yuan, 6.5% spent 3,000-4,999 yuan, and only 8.9% spent 5,000 yuan or more. Another national survey, CLHLS 2018, also showed that only about 12% of adults aged 65 and above in China use nutritional supplements.

More than 80% of the elderly cannot afford ordinary nursing home fees.

According to CEIC data, the average monthly nursing care fee for fully self-care elderly in 36 Chinese cities (including bed, meals, and care) exceeds 2,600 yuan. For semi-self-care or disabled elderly, the price is higher. According to the Survey on the Living Conditions of Urban and Rural Elderly, only 15.8% of the elderly can afford nursing home fees of 3,000 yuan or more per month, meaning more than 80% cannot afford nursing homes.

More than 80% of the elderly have not traveled in the past year. Among those who travel, more than 80% spend less than 5,000 yuan annually.

According to the 2021 Survey on the Living Conditions of Urban and Rural Elderly in China, only 9.1% of the elderly traveled in 2020. Considering recent growth, the actual travel rate is still estimated to be below 20%. Among the few elderly who travel, more than 80% spend less than 5,000 yuan annually, meaning short-distance and budget travel still dominate.

Many highly publicized silver-haired consumption areas show a common pattern: most elderly either do not participate at all or remain at low consumption levels.

Chinese elderly consumption is not a single "blue ocean" but a huge, stratified, complex market with both opportunities and traps. Its essence is "high base × high heterogeneity": overall volume and growth momentum are strong, but internal consumption levels vary greatly.

Therefore, truly replicable and scalable opportunities come from precise matching of segmented populations, serviceable scenarios, and sustainable business models, rather than one-size-fits-all optimism about the entire "silver-haired market."

Having understood the individual differences of this generation of Chinese elderly, we choose to zoom out and delve into group issues of old age. Society treats old age as an exit, so they quietly turn away, and the desires, needs, confusions, and dignity of 300 million people disappear from public discourse.

These are elderly issues you may know or have never deeply understood, including elderly life that breaks stereotypes and elderly phenomena that are unseen.

「 Part Two 」Focusing on Real Elderly Issues

Truths easily overlooked

According to a report by the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), as of June 2025, netizens aged 60 and above accounted for 14.4% of all netizens, and the internet penetration rate for those aged 60 and above was 52%. This means that half of the elderly in China are isolated from the online world, becoming "internet illiterates," while the other half are active online, becoming "internet busy."

The number of non-netizens aged 6 and above in China is 216 million, and the elderly remain the main body of non-netizens. Data shows that among non-netizens, those aged 60 and above account for 52.1%. Lack of skills, educational limitations, insufficient equipment, and age restrictions are the main reasons for not going online.

**Intergenerational and educational gaps are the first threshold.** From 2000 to 2010, China experienced rapid internet penetration, but at that time, this generation of elderly had already entered middle age or old age, and the marginal benefit of internet access was relatively low, so their willingness and motivation to learn were naturally low. At the same time, up to 60% of this generation have primary school education or below, and most have weak pinyin, search, and information filtering abilities, getting stuck at the first step of input.

**Physiological and cognitive changes are the second threshold.** After entering old age, vision, hearing, fine motor skills of the hands, and short-term memory decline, making mainstream interactions with small screens, low contrast, complex gestures, multiple passwords, and multiple verification codes very unfriendly to the elderly. "The input method often presses two keys at once," "I accidentally click into ads" are the voices of many elderly.

**Process and version fluctuations are the third threshold.** Doing one thing often requires crossing apps/mini-programs, receiving SMS codes and returning, repeatedly doing face recognition + real-name verification + card binding; frequent platform redesigns invalidate learned path memories, causing "the more changes, the less I know." Family proxy handling solves problems in the short term but cuts off the learning path, forming a negative cycle of "the less I know → the more I'm proxied → the less I learn."

Unable to understand, hear, use, or learn, many elderly stop outside the digital world. Meanwhile, those who successfully access the internet are busy chasing short dramas, snapping up deals in live streams, sharing memes in family groups, and posting life wisdom in comment sections.

**The pandemic forced the elderly online.** After the large-scale outbreak, due to prevention and control requirements, "health codes" were used as a standard for passage nationwide. Theoretically, elderly who could not use smartphones became unable to move. During the pandemic, contactless services were advocated, offline activities were restricted, and the elderly were forced to learn to use smartphones, trying online shopping and online medical care. The "health code" became the first digital business card for the elderly, and frequent smartphone use changed their lifestyle.

CNNIC data shows that from 2016 to 2021, netizens aged 60 and above increased by nearly 100 million; especially in the early stage of the pandemic (March to June 2020), elderly netizens surged by 36 million, reflecting that the pandemic greatly promoted internet access and use among the elderly, significantly enhancing their digital participation.

In October 2020, in the third quarter of the pandemic, Alibaba data showed that the monthly active user growth rate of Taobao for users aged 60+ was 29.7 percentage points higher than the overall market.

Large-scale age-friendly adaptation of web pages and apps also began at this time. In April 2021, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the "General Design Specifications for Age-Friendly Adaptation of Internet Websites" and "General Design Specifications for Age-Friendly Adaptation of Mobile Internet Applications (Apps)," and completed age-friendly adaptations of multiple web pages and common apps in the same year, opening the curtain on large-scale internet age-friendly reform.

**With a gentle swipe, the elderly are hooked on short videos.** As a favorite media form for the elderly, short videos play an important role in their online lives. Data shows that among elderly smartphone users, more than 60% use short videos.

CNNIC report data shows that 31.3% of new elderly netizens said their first online activity was watching short videos, and 21.5% said their first online activity was using instant messaging or chat tools. Short videos have become a key engine for the elderly to get online.

QuestMobile's insight report on the silver-haired population (calculated as 50+) shows that as of September 2024, the monthly active user scale of the silver-haired population on mobile internet reached 329 million, with an average monthly usage time of 129 hours.

Among them, short videos, instant messaging, comprehensive news, and comprehensive e-commerce ranked in the top four for usage time, accounting for 35.1%, 25.2%, 11.3%, and 6.7%, respectively. Among these, Douyin, Kuaishou, Douyin Speed Edition, and Kuaishou Speed Edition had monthly active users of 174 million, 96 million, 95 million, and 83 million, respectively.

The thousand and one nights of elderly surfing the internet are more exciting than we imagine. The elderly have become a force to be reckoned with in the micro-drama market. In 2024, 1,350 micro-dramas were launched, a year-on-year increase of 27.5%. Among micro-drama users, those aged 40-59 accounted for 37.3%, and those aged 60 and above accounted for 12.1%, with middle-aged and elderly people accounting for nearly half of the audience.

At the same time, micro-dramas with middle-aged and elderly themes occupied nearly half of the monthly list of investment heat. The "2023 Annual China Digital Reading Report" released by the China Audio-Video and Digital Publishing Association shows that the number of digital reading users aged 60 and above in China has reached 24 million, accounting for 4.2% of digital reading users, and this proportion continues to rise.

**The elderly are becoming a new variable in the content ecosystem.** In today's era of fading platform traffic dividends and severe content homogenization, a long-ignored group is quietly emerging as new growth in the content ecosystem. On one hand, the increase in elderly netizens means they need voices to speak for them online; on the other hand, the life perspectives, expression styles, and contrasting charm of the elderly have won likes from netizens of all ages on platforms.

According to official Xiaohongshu data, as of the end of 2024, monthly active users aged 60 and above exceeded 30 million, and the number of elderly creators surged threefold in two years, publishing over 100 million notes cumulatively. On Douyin, as early as 2021, creators aged 60 and above had produced over 600 million videos, receiving 40 billion likes.

According to Feigua data, as of the end of 2024, there were more than 20 elderly influencer accounts on Douyin with over 4 million followers. Statistics show that the middle-aged and elderly group can create a 10-million-follower influencer in a hundred days, and the digital power of the elderly cannot be ignored.

**The elderly have become new leeks on the internet.** Beyond internet entertainment, many elderly are bound by platform mechanisms to perform various invisible labor. Many platforms' user acquisition mechanisms, incentive models, and low-price advertising precisely target the psychological weaknesses of the silver-haired group—frugality, trust, social loneliness, and desire for participation.

Signing in to collect coins, browsing ads, forwarding to groups, pulling friends to download and register apps—the elderly spend a lot of time every day doing various platform activity tasks, thinking they are new-era bargain hunters, but in reality, they have become the natural reserve army for platforms' "daily active users," "retention," and "viral growth."

The elderly are not just online; they are spiritually present. The loss theory hypothesis points out that aging can be understood as a process of losing social roles, social relationships, physical and mental health, and ideal values. How to reduce the sense of loss is an important topic in healthy aging.

For many elderly, going online is not only a need for convenient life but also a psychological motivation to alleviate inner loneliness, find spiritual sustenance, and increase social participation. Facing internet-addicted elderly, we should not only think of preventing them from going online like setting up a teenager mode, but also consider whether we and society have given them the same care and companionship as teenagers.

New leeks in the information age, new laborers in the digital age, and emotional players on the internet—the online life of the elderly is really "busy."

Privacy: Is it not guarded, or not knowing how to guard?

In the family, they default to "no need to guard"; on the internet, they cannot understand "what is guarding." No boundaries within the family and no defense in the digital world constitute a double privacy blind spot for the elderly.

Family transparency: the inertia of collective privacy sharing

In traditional Chinese society, awareness of the private sphere is weak, and many elderly were born into a context of "clan society" and "acquaintance society." In their understanding, privacy = family scandal / internal family affairs, which should not be publicized. And "no privacy within the family" is a common consensus. For example, it is taken for granted that the elderly's phone passwords are open to their children, electronic devices are shared, and the elderly routinely ask about their children's salaries and love lives.

Transparent relationships among family members are seen as a symbol of "intimacy." In the eyes of many elderly, refusing to share is equivalent to distrust, not being close, or even unfilial. This concept is deeply rooted in traditional ethics and intergenerational structures, making the elderly often lack basic awareness of "personal information sovereignty."

After smart devices widely entered family scenarios, some elderly have begun to show concern for privacy. According to the elderly care consumption survey project report released by the China Consumers Association: 37.88% of the elderly do not want their children to install surveillance cameras, believing it infringes on their privacy; 30.87% said they partially accept it, allowing installation in public areas not involving privacy; 31.11% showed an indifferent attitude.

The higher the self-care ability of the elderly, the higher the proportion opposing children's installation of surveillance; those needing care are more likely to accept it.

Digital defense failure: the absence of modern privacy awareness

After entering the digital society, the elderly face not the inertia of traditional privacy views but the complete absence of modern privacy awareness. They are technology immigrants rather than internet natives, with passive acceptance as the main path to internet access, and the digital understanding gap remains deep.

The lowering of internet access barriers has brought a large number of elderly people online, a considerable portion of whom have low digital literacy and weak privacy awareness, and are not qualified digital citizens in the strict sense. According to the "National Digital Literacy and Skills Development Level Survey Report" released by the Cyberspace Administration of China, among people aged 60-69, only 7.34% have advanced digital literacy and skills, and 36.22% have primary or above ratings, far lower than other age groups.

Apps excessively collect personal information, and the elderly generally have no awareness to restrict and choose. During the process of downloading and registering apps, the elderly often directly click "next" or "allow," defaulting to checking all authorizations, opening all permissions when logging in, and being completely defenseless against access to contacts, location, camera, microphone, health data, etc.

This asymmetric information environment exposes their personal data to algorithms and third-party platforms without their knowledge. According to the digital life insight report for the silver-haired group released by China Mobile Research Institute, a survey of people over 50 found that 59% of the silver-haired group do not pay attention to data privacy, only 26% restrict app permissions, and only 19% use different passwords.

We need a safer, more dignified, and more boundary-respecting aging society, and the elderly should not be excluded from privacy issues.

Age-friendly adaptation: Is it compromise or welcome?

For a long time, China's urban development has seemed to press the fast-forward button. In the modernization race centered on "efficiency," the elderly may feel increasingly alienated.

Housing: Over 60% of houses have no elevator

According to the Seventh National Population Census, more than 60% of existing housing stock has no elevator (about 63.3%), roughly corresponding to the proportion of housing below 7 floors (70.2%). Most housing below 7 floors has no elevator, and bungalows account for only 16.9% of housing below 7 floors, meaning many low-rise residences are not suitable for the elderly. Accessibility design is often limited to some new communities, and the installation of elevators in old communities is often slow due to coordination difficulties and high costs, leaving many elderly with mobility issues "trapped at home."

Furthermore, we must recognize that age-friendly housing is not just about elevators; housing design should consider the full lifecycle perspective, and being age-friendly is part of being livable.

According to the "Survey on the Living Conditions of Urban and Rural Elderly in China," the top three age-friendly renovation projects demanded by urban elderly are elevator installation (13.55%), floor renovation (12.4%), and toilet and bathing equipment renovation (11.7%); for rural elderly, the top three are toilet and bathing equipment renovation (18.1%), kitchen equipment renovation (15.6%), and floor renovation (15%).

Fitness: What they need is more than square dancing and horizontal bars

Uncles playing on horizontal bars and aunties dancing square dances—parks seem to be the main venue for elderly fitness. Gyms focused on fat loss, body shaping, and young socializing have quietly marginalized the elderly.

According to the 2024 sports venue statistics by the General Administration of Sport of China, there are about 150,000 gyms in China. According to public information, there are only a few hundred indoor gyms specifically for the elderly nationwide, mainly concentrated in economically developed regions like the Yangtze River Delta and Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, and the elderly gym industry is still in its early stages.

In fact, people aged 60 and above are becoming the fastest-growing potential fitness users. According to the "China Beautiful Life Survey" data, the fitness participation rate of people aged 60 and above has reached 16.59%, almost catching up with the middle-aged group (46-59 years old) at 17.05%, and significantly higher than the young group (18-35 years old) at below 11%.

The fitness needs of the elderly differ from those of the young. They do not want six-pack abs or eight-pack abs; they do not pursue large muscles, low body fat, or beautiful physiques. Their fitness is mostly to resist aging, prevent excessive muscle loss, increase joint flexibility, and maintain normal living abilities. But currently, there are few services on the market that customize training plans around the fitness needs of the elderly, and traditional gyms have naturally become the main battlefield for the young.

Traffic lights: Wait for the slower one

The pace of urban development is too fast, and crosswalks have become numerous and long, leaving the staggering elderly behind.

Currently, the pedestrian crossing time of urban signal lights in China is generally designed based on a walking speed of 1.0-1.2 meters per second. However, research shows that the average walking speed of people aged 65 and above is only 0.8 meters per second, and this speed further declines with age. That is, to cross the same zebra crossing, the elderly need longer green light time.

In addition, the elderly need more reaction time than the young. Studies show that compared with the young, the visual reaction time of people aged 65 and above is delayed by an average of about 0.2 to 0.5 seconds, and the reaction delay from standing still to starting to walk is about 0.6-1.2 seconds. That is, the delay in reacting to the green light and the delay in starting from a stationary state make the elderly 1-2 seconds slower than the young.

The recommended national standard "Age-Friendly Facilities Service Requirements and Evaluation for Urban Public Facilities," implemented in April this year, clearly stipulates: "In areas with a high concentration of elderly, such as schools, kindergartens, hospitals, and nursing homes, the timing of pedestrian crossing signals should be calculated based on the walking speed of the elderly to determine the minimum green time for pedestrian crossing phases, and the pedestrian walking speed should preferably be 0.6 m/s to 0.8 m/s." In the future, more traffic lights in cities will slow down.

Long staircases at subway entrances, gaps between bus doors and the ground, unclear signs... In every corner we see and do not see, are we ready to welcome an elderly person? The so-called age-friendly adaptation is not just a functional concession but a deep-seated social welcome gesture.

Emotional disorders: Is it individual or common?

Do the elderly around you also do this? They always say they are fine but often sigh, always feel uncomfortable but cannot say where, and have plenty of free time but are not interested in anything... Behind these seemingly ordinary behaviors may lie an emotional crisis.

According to WHO data, one in seven elderly people worldwide suffers from emotional disorders, and about a quarter (27.2%) of global suicide deaths occur among people aged 60 and above. According to a report by the China Research Center on Aging, 26.4% of the elderly in China have depressive symptoms of varying degrees, with 6.2% having moderate to severe depressive symptoms. That is, in China, one in four elderly people is struggling in the trough of emotions.

Aging is an extremely cruel process of loss. During growth, we learn various skills and gain love and dignity in independence and freedom. But upon entering old age, those learned abilities are gradually stripped away: sensory function declines, memory deteriorates, and chronic diseases plague. Physical pain can be endured, but the spread of loneliness and the collapse of self-worth often have no one to tell.

From a medical perspective, depressive disorders include Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and Persistent Depressive Disorder (Dysthymia).

A study based on depression data in China from 1990 to 2021 shows that the prevalence of depressive disorders increases with age, peaking in the 60-69 age group and then slightly declining. Specifically, MDD continuously increases with age until the oldest age group. The prevalence of persistent depressive disorder shows an inverted U-shape, peaking in the 60-64 age group. In all age groups, the prevalence of depressive disorders is higher in women.

Elderly depression is often hidden in silence and sighs. What is more terrible than exiting is being forgotten.

Medical care: Is it illness or just old age?

"Eat until 80% full, leave 20% for medicine" is a portrayal of many elderly lives. The intersection of aging and disease constitutes a complex battlefield in the medical field. Traditional medical systems tend to "overtreat" and "undertreat" the elderly.

Due to limited medical resources and misconceptions about aging, the elderly are often "trivialized." Family members and medical staff may attribute some symptoms to normal aging.

For example, Alzheimer's disease has multiple causes. If an elderly person does not have any of these causes, they may not necessarily develop dementia even if they live to 100.

Multiple studies on centenarians worldwide have found that 15%-25% of them do not show significant cognitive decline. That is, the "senile confusion" we are accustomed to may be illness, not old age.

Overtreatment is another problem. Modern medicine has continuously specialized over the past century, greatly improving diagnosis and treatment. But each department handles a specific disease, while the elderly often have multiple coexisting diseases, and the risk of polypharmacy is greatly underestimated.

Research shows that the prevalence of chronic diseases among people aged 60 and above in China exceeds 80%, and the rate of polypharmacy among elderly patients aged 60 and above is as high as 70.8%, with an average of 8.6 medications taken daily.

An elderly person may have nutritional and health products they bought themselves, and prescriptions from doctors in different departments based on their underlying diseases and urgent treatment needs. Multiple prescriptions overlap, forming a "prescription waterfall." Due to lack of coordination, these medications often constitute invisible "medical violence."

The elderly are not just older adults; their manifestations of disease, drug tolerance, and treatment responses are significantly different from normal adults. Multiple coexisting diseases and polypharmacy urgently require a comprehensive assessment medical system, leading to the emergence of geriatric medicine departments.

According to the "Health Development Statistical Bulletin" in the past three years, in 2021, there were 4,685 secondary and above general hospitals with geriatric medicine departments; in 2022 and 2023, this number increased to 5,909 and 6,877, respectively.

Systematic medical difficulties are gradually improving, but the problem of the last mile to medical care is becoming more prominent.

A study based on the latest data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) shows that about 160 million elderly people aged 60 and above live independently in China, accounting for more than half. With the miniaturization of family structures and long-term out-migration of children for work becoming the norm, more and more elderly need to face the complex medical system independently.

Survey data shows that over 90% of surveyed elderly said they need medical accompaniment, mainly due to complex medical procedures and difficulty operating smart medical devices. Online appointment, registration, payment, examination, consultation, and medication collection—each process requires communication and coordination.

Without accompaniment, the elderly may not be able to register, miss examinations, forget medical advice, or collect medication. Moreover, accompaniment services for the elderly are not just about running errands and information integration but also warm companionship. These lonely elderly patients urgently need "temporary children."

According to Qichacha data, there are currently 1,527 companies related to medical accompaniment in China (only counting those with "accompaniment" in their names), with an average of 300 established each year in the past three years, and only 28 in 2021. As of September 2025, the topic "accompaniment" has over 300 million views and 2.8 million discussions on Xiaohongshu.

Systematic care and warm companionship are exactly the professionalism and warmth needed in elderly medical care.

Sexuality: Is it silence or nonexistence?

The love and desire of 300 million Chinese people have not been seen.

In China, there are two types of people who are ashamed to talk about sex: minors, who must remain ignorant, and the elderly, who are expected to be celibate by default. Those who have completed their reproductive mission are naturally considered not to need "sex."

However, sexual health is an important indicator of health and well-being throughout life. The World Health Organization regards sexual health as an integral part of elderly well-being and healthy aging. In many studies, sexual activity has been proven to be associated with many health benefits for the elderly, including maintaining higher physical energy levels, improving psychological and physical health, and increasing life satisfaction.

Sex does not disappear with aging. Multiple studies show that sexual attractiveness and intimate relationships remain important to many elderly. A study published in The Lancet, a top medical journal, recruited 3,000 individuals aged 50 and above in four regions of China from 2020 to 2022. The results showed that 46.8% of men and 40.7% of women were sexually active.

Academia divides China's sex education into three stages: 1949-1977, the closed stage, where people's understanding of sex was limited to "reproductive means"; 1978-1987, the budding stage, where people began to slowly realize that sex, besides reproduction, could also be a way to pursue physical and mental pleasure; and after 1988, the development stage.

Today's generation of elderly was mostly born and raised in the closed stage and the early budding stage. Their adolescence was basically without formal sex education, so many elderly are now "sexually illiterate," ashamed to discuss sex and lacking relevant knowledge.

Most of them have never systematically learned sexual health knowledge, know little about contraception, sexually transmitted diseases, and sexual mental health, and generally have weak awareness of safe sex.

This directly leads to a severely underestimated social reality: Chinese elderly are becoming a high-risk group for sexually transmitted infections. More than 20% of new AIDS cases in China each year come from people aged 60 and above, with the vast majority transmitted through sexual contact.

The silence of any group should not be a reason to deprive them of rights, and the sexuality of the elderly should not be reasonably ignored.

Marriage: Is it settling or staying single?

Research shows that after retirement and empty nesting, there is the second peak of divorce (gray divorce). According to a 2022 study in the Journal of Gerontology, divorcees aged 50 and above account for 36% of all divorcees, and the divorce rate for those aged 65 and above is the only age group showing an upward trend.

In China, the Beijing Xicheng District Court once released data showing that in the five years from 2016 to 2021, nearly half of the divorce lawsuits accepted involved people over 60, reflecting that the elderly have become a high-incidence group for divorce. More and more elderly are choosing to end decades-long marriages, with women often initiating the divorce.

We once thought that elderly couples meant stability and companionship, and "old companion" meant "old with a companion." However, this generation of elderly mostly entered marriage through arranged meetings in their youth, jointly fulfilling responsibilities in raising children and supporting the elderly.

After completing a series of life tasks, the instrumental nature of marriage disappears, and the contradictions that were ignored or conceded in youth are gradually amplified. Marriage downgrades from a necessity of life to a consumable, and in the second half of life, they want to become happy individuals in their own right.

After the twilight breakup, they choose to re-enter the stage. While many young people lose interest and confidence in romance, the elderly are becoming the backbone of the matchmaking market. Beijing's Changpu River matchmaking corner and Shanghai's IKEA matchmaking corner are well-known elderly matchmaking venues. Online, elderly matchmaking shows remain popular, with programs like Jilin TV's "It's Never Too Late" and Heilongjiang TV's "Love Each Other" being well received by the elderly. They are openly expressing their desire for romance and marriage.

The matchmaking platform Yidui has over 100 million registered users. According to Baidu Index statistics, people over 50 account for more than half of the search profile, with a TGI index exceeding 300. (Target Group Index, where over 100 indicates that the group's attention to the keyword is higher than the overall level)

Intergenerational: Is it support or dislocation?

Aging is not an isolated issue for the older generation but a systemic issue concerning resource allocation and value resonance for every generation. We cannot ignore the indispensable intergenerational support provided by the elderly in families, cities, and society.

Intergenerational support: Retired but not idle elderly

In traditional views, old age is seen as a stage of "successful retirement," meaning exiting labor and enjoying life. However, in China's real family structure, the "exit" of the elderly is almost a luxury. They are often re-engaged in the family system after retirement, continuing to bear core responsibilities as caregivers and housekeepers, becoming the invisible but crucial "second labor force" in the family.

This phenomenon is particularly significant among elderly women. Contemporary young women have more freedom in career development, and their liberation in the family does not come from men's concession but from the support of the previous generation. They are freed from heavy childcare and household labor because elderly women in the family have taken over.

The support provided by the elderly to their children mainly includes house-sitting, housework, and caring for grandchildren. Survey data shows that 90% of the elderly in China raise grandchildren to varying degrees. According to the China Aging Center survey, in 2014, among children aged 0-2 nationwide, the proportion mainly cared for by grandparents was as high as 60%-70%, with 30% of children completely cared for by grandparents. The family's dependence on the childcare system is highly transferred to the elderly. The enrollment rate of children under 3 in childcare institutions in China is less than 10%, far lower than the 30% to 70% in many developed countries.

China has nearly 20 million elderly migrants. According to survey data previously released by the National Health Commission, the primary reason for migration is caring for grandchildren (43%), followed by elderly care/relocation (31%) and work/business (26%). Intergenerational support has made many elderly "old drifters."

We must re-understand the housework and care roles undertaken by the elderly. This is not "they are happy to do it" or "family helping out," but a passive burden under the structural absence of China's social system and family structure. It should not be beautified as a warm story but should be included in public policy considerations. Only by establishing a sound care economy compensation system and social childcare services can we truly respect and release the labor of the elderly.

Intergenerational mutual aid: New cooperation mechanisms and life experiments

Intergenerational support often exists in the form of family obligations. In recent years, mutual aid experiments beyond blood and traditional roles have emerged, especially in elderly care communities and youth rental markets.

**A group of young people has poured into nursing homes.** In Beijing, Nanjing, Hangzhou, and other places, some elderly care institutions and communities have begun piloting "young people residency" projects. Young people can exchange a certain amount of volunteer service time for low-cost or free rooms.

In addition, the elderly care industry is undergoing a youthful transformation, with many young people choosing it as a career starting point. According to the Ministry of Civil Affairs statistical yearbook, practitioners aged 35 and under are increasingly present in elderly care institutions.

In 2024, graduates from elderly care nursing majors at multiple universities were in short supply. National and local policies have been introduced to provide entry subsidies, housing preferences, and career development channels to attract college graduates and young people into the elderly care industry.

**The elderly are trying to recruit young tenants.** In some cities, a shared living model based on resource complementarity has emerged between the elderly and young people. The elderly rent rooms to young people at lower rents. Young people exchange companionship and digital help for low rent and security; the elderly exchange spare rooms and life experience for vitality and daily companionship.

Intergenerational integration: The elderly are also influencing the young in reverse

Intergenerational interaction is never just about the elderly keeping up with trends, nor is it only the young unilaterally influencing the elderly. In fact, the behaviors and life concepts of the elderly are also quietly reshaping youth culture, and a trend called "mooching off the elderly" is emerging.

The popularity of "mooching off the elderly" reflects the psychological resonance of young people. In the current high-pressure and involutionary era, the "steady rhythm, clear boundaries, and life introspection" represented by the silver-haired group are gradually becoming a new life template pursued by young people.

On social platforms, young people imitate the daily routines and dietary habits of the elderly, showing a longing for a slow-paced, low-consumption, social, and body-focused lifestyle. "Mooching off the elderly fashion," "mooching off the elderly exercise," and "mooching off the elderly socializing" have become subcultural labels, which is both a trend and a subconscious intergenerational identification.

According to JD.com's Consumer and Industry Research Institute's "2024 Silver-Haired Consumption Report," 41.9% of young people have followed the elderly to buy vegetables at the market, and 25.2% have taken a liking to sports commonly played by the elderly, such as Baduanjin and fishing.

"Mooching off the elderly" is becoming a cultural trend among young people: imitating the life rhythm, consumption patterns, and health concepts of the elderly. Behind this seemingly playful behavior lies an active avoidance of high-pressure social rhythms and an attempt to rebuild life sovereignty.

It not only reflects young people's longing for a stable, healthy, and moderate lifestyle but also quietly promotes emotional identification and cultural convergence between generations, creating new opportunities for cross-generational connection for the elderly.

**Elderly re-employment: Making the cake bigger or dividing it?**

The new social security policy requires enterprises to pay social insurance for employees, making the "retirement certificate" in a sense a "special pass" in the job market. The elderly, who have low hourly wages and do not require social insurance contributions, have become a remedy for enterprises to reduce costs and increase efficiency.

On social platforms, the vibrant elderly contrast sharply with the lifeless young. Many joke: "Mature, stable, able to get up early, and free bus rides—the elderly are at the right age for work." The issue of elderly re-employment has been pushed to the center of public opinion amid social anxiety. What is the reality?

A considerable number of elderly in China have the willingness to re-enter the workforce, and some have already done so. The willingness and participation rate of the young-old are relatively high. According to the Survey on the Living Conditions of Urban and Rural Elderly in China, in 2021, 28.1% of the elderly were willing to engage in paid work.

By urban-rural divide, 24.3% of urban elderly were willing, and 32.7% of rural elderly. By age group, 38.3% of the young-old were willing, while the middle-old and oldest-old were 19.4% and 5.2%, respectively. In reality, 14.4% of urban elderly and 24.5% of rural elderly have achieved re-employment.

Specifically, based on observations of employment motivation, elderly re-employment can be divided into two types: value continuation type and livelihood compensation type.

The value continuation type elderly are economically well-off, with professional skills, networks, and experience. Their motivation for employment is mostly to continue exerting professional value, maintaining social connections, and delaying aging. They are typically retired urban cadres, professors, doctors, and enterprise managers, and their re-employment is often in the form of rehiring as lecturers and consultants. This group accounts for a small proportion of the elderly.

The IMF's 2025 Economic Outlook report points out that in terms of cognitive ability, "70 is the new 50." A sample covering 41 developed and emerging economies shows that the average cognitive level of 70-year-olds in 2022 was roughly equivalent to that of 53-year-olds in 2000. That is, the elderly are fully capable of returning to the workforce.

A larger number of elderly belong to the livelihood compensation type, with lower incomes, needing re-employment to maintain basic living and supplement household expenses. They are typically low-income elderly in urban and rural areas, mostly farmers, workers, and ordinary employees. According to the National Bureau of Statistics' "2024 Migrant Worker Monitoring Survey Report," the average age of migrant workers in China has reached 43.2 years, with those over 50 accounting for 31.6% and rising.

According to public data from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, in recent years, the ratio of average annual pension to average annual wage for urban workers has been declining, reaching about 51% in 2024.

However, there are still about 170 million elderly (about 55%) who receive only an average monthly pension of 227 yuan from urban and rural residents' pension, with a pension/wage ratio of about 10% to 15%. This means that China's pensions are still far from enabling most elderly to maintain their pre-retirement living standards, and a considerable proportion have the motivation to improve income through re-employment.

Will the elderly returning to the workforce really compete with young people for jobs? In fact, the few "value continuation" elderly flow into consulting and teaching positions that rely heavily on experience, filling some talent gaps and facilitating the transfer of knowledge and skills.

Most "livelihood compensation" elderly flow into low-threshold service industries and agriculture that young people are unwilling to enter, with very low overlap in career tracks between the elderly and the young.

One-size-fits-all praise of the "vitality" of elderly employment or criticism of the elderly "stealing jobs" is one-sided. Elderly re-employment has both social value and real pressure.

On one hand, it helps maintain the physical and mental health of the elderly and delay aging.

On the other hand, it supplements labor supply, reduces excessive dependence on social security, and alleviates the pressure of family support and transfer payments.

For "value continuation" re-employment, we should gradually build institutional guarantees for flexible employment and improve the rehiring mechanism for consultants and various public welfare positions. For "livelihood compensation" re-employment, we should strengthen labor rights and safety guarantees in flexible employment scenarios, clarify minimum hourly wages, working hours, and work-related injury responsibilities, and at the institutional level, use minimum income support and affordable medical care as a safety net to avoid them falling into "forced labor."

Elderly re-employment is an important part of social transformation and active aging. The goal is not to make everyone "stay on the job" but to give those willing to work a "stage" and those who have to work "no traps." Let work become a right and opportunity for every elderly person, not a burden of life or a helpless choice.

Aging is not "their problem" but "our problem," and even more "our common possibility." Under this proposition, every generation has a role to play.

Epilogue

## On elderly issues, people often deceive themselves. Fear breeds concealment, greed amplifies bias. Discourse is pulled between two poles: one is the narrative of burden, the other is the narrative of opportunity, and few take the time to see the real elderly.

## This generation of Chinese elderly is a multifaceted diamond carved by time. Some burn with new possibilities in the twilight, others guard small dignities in daily life. So, do not try to compress the time of 300 million people into the single label of "elderly."

During the writing of this report, we saw many elderly issues worthy of attention: "the sighing elderly may be trapped in depression," "the elderly who have settled all their lives may be thinking of divorce," "they are actually sick, not old." Society worships youth and vitality, and old age naturally hides in corners, with too many voices unheard.

We have also been repeatedly misled by astonishing data: "the elderly spend an average of 4 hours online daily," "100% of the elderly use skincare products." Platform data favors active users, market research favors those willing to pay, and too many silent people will never become survey samples.

After all, those without commercial value will not be seen.

The clock of life ticks on, and generation after generation will grow old. We are used to saying "they," but time never allows us to stand aside. Growing old is never "their" business; it is our common future.

One day, the "ignored" and "represented" may be you and me. Seeing brings warmth; seeing brings the future.

" _In the past hundred years, human lifespan has been like a rubber candy stretched by the hand of technology, gradually extending our scale of existence. Today, as artificial intelligence conquers one challenge after another in biotechnology and medicine, this rubber candy seems to be entering an endless stretching process, and the boundaries of life are being rewritten._

_However, if lifespan is no longer scarce, does age still carry the same weight? Throughout human history, we have repeatedly sung the praises of youth, treating the young as symbols of the future and viewing 'unspent years' as the most worthy glory to pursue. But in an era of infinitely extended lifespan, is youth still the only anthem?_ 

_Perhaps aging will no longer be synonymous with decline but another form of fullness—a richness of accumulated wisdom and stories. Perhaps old age will no longer be a passive 'remaining life' but an active 'present life.' In such a society, youth and old age are no longer opposites but two aesthetics placed side by side; no longer a temporal order of 'before' and 'after' but multiple dimensions of life._

_Ultimately, we face not just how to live longer, but how to find the true flavor of life in the endlessly stretched rubber candy._"


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## Citation metadata

- Publisher: New Distribution
- Author: 青山投研中心
- Published: 2025-09-18
- Canonical: https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/the-overlooked-silver-haired-consumer-qingshan-capital-2025-annual-resea-8e6efebf/
- Original source: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/YzBSj3aePm-ytROQQTTQrQ

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