Bao Yi, 73, and her husband Shi Mingao, 75, are among China's first generation of dual-income, childless couples, and they are now facing old age without children to look after them. [1]
China's 2020 census counted about 188 million dual-income, childless households, or 38% of all households, with the highest concentrations in big cities such as Shanghai and Beijing. [1]
Bao said she did not set out to remain childless. She had miscarriages and spent years on caregiving responsibilities, which shaped the life she and Shi built together after marrying in the 1980s. [1]
She said relying on children is not a sure answer anyway. "Even if we had a child, they would be busy with their own careers, their own lives, their own families," she said. She added, "Those who depend on their children for emotional survival often haven’t learned how to find fulfillment within themselves." [1]
For daily support, Bao and Shi depend on each other, along with pets, students and AI companions. When Bao had an arthritis flare-up last winter that temporarily left her arm weak, she had to lean on Shi for basic tasks. At one point, she asked, "Will I become paralyzed?" [1]
Their experience points to the growing reality for older Chinese couples who reached retirement without children. The pair now navigate aging with the help they can build around them, rather than the family structure many once assumed would be there. [1]