A nursing home in eastern China is offering free lodging to young people who are willing to befriend its lonely residents and keep them company for at least 10 hours a month.
This is the third time that the Sunshine Home is dangling rent-free accommodation – a 30 sq m room with two single beds, attached bathroom and a small balcony – as a carrot to entice young people to live among its elderly residents.
In the previous two batches, a total of 30 young applicants were accepted into the “multi-generational housing” programme, an elderly-friendly initiative that was piloted in 2019 by the civil affairs bureau of the Binjiang district in Hangzhou.
The success of the programme spurred the nursing home to launch its third recruitment drive for about 15 to 20 companions. All recruits will be required to sign a one-year contract with the home, according to China news outlet People’s Daily Online.
In the early days of the pilot scheme, the recruits were obliged to commit 20 hours of their time each month to the elderly residents, and although they got to stay rent-free, they paid 600 yuan (S$113) in management fees every month.
Changes have since been made to the programme. Participants now need to set aside at least 10 hours a month for the elderly, and the management fee has been halved to 300 yuan.
The companions will be expected to chat, eat and walk with the seniors, among other activities.
While there is no age limit for the companions, young people, in particular, are encouraged to join the programme, the civil affairs bureau told Chinese media.
Sunshine Home director Chen Xiaoliang said the recruitment drive has drawn quite a number of applicants around the age of 20. The exact number was not revealed.
“Old folk have a natural liking towards young people who are around the same age as their grandchildren,” said Mr Chen. “This is also how the idea of ‘multi-generational housing’ came about.”
Supporters of this housing arrangement believe it helps to tackle some of China’s demographic challenges. While it allows younger people who have recently entered the workforce to save on accommodation costs, it can also cater to the elderly’s social and emotional needs.
Other parts of the world have also seen similar programmes being implemented. In 2015, a Helsinki state care home, Rudolf Seniors Home, offered selected participants under the age of 25 accommodation at a rent of less than half of what they would need to fork out for a small studio apartment with a balcony in the Finnish capital.
In exchange for the low rent, participants were expected to spend between three and five hours weekly with the senior residents at Rudolf, The Guardian reported.
At Hangzhou’s Sunshine Home, one 90-year-old resident known only as Madam Wang met the first batch of young companions in 2019. She could not remember their names, but the time spent with them felt as if it were yesterday.
“They were like family. They cared a lot about me and would often chat with me. When they shared with me things about the outside world, that made me very happy,” Madam Wang, who was a school teacher for 36 years, was quoted as saying by Tide News.
