China’s Population Aging from the Perspective of Public Policy

人口老龄化将成为中国社会的常态, 它所带来的挑战更多地源于老化的人口年龄 结构与现有社会经济体制之间的不协调所产生的矛盾, 这使公共政策调节成为必须。 本文认为, 仅仅调节人口政策、仅仅调节针对老年人的政策或某一部门的政策都不足 以全面应对人口老龄化, 而应当以社会整合和长期发展的视角来重构当前的公共政策 体系。在重构过程中, 不仅要统筹人口系统与其他社会系统的关系, 而且要统筹短期 目标与中长期战略的联系。因此, 应建立一个权威的常态统筹机构, 并结合中国的国 情, 重新定位老年人的社会角色、解决老年人养老的现实问题、支持老龄化社会的可 持续发展。 关键词: 人口老龄化 公共政策 家庭 人口红利 可持续发展 Population aging will become the norm in the Chinese society. Its challenge derives mainly from the failure of the existing socio-economic system to cope with the aging process. The intervention of public policy is therefore inevitable. This paper argues that in order to comprehensively deal with the aging problem, it is not sufficient to merely readjust population policies, policy measures focusing on the aged or policies for one or another sector. Instead, we need to reconstruct the current public policy system from the perspective of social integration and a long-term development strategy. During the reconstruction process, efforts should be made not only to coordinate the population system with other social systems, but also to coordinate short-term goals with medium and long- term strategies. Accordingly, an authoritative permanent government coordinating agency should be established and, taking into account China’s national conditions, should redefine the social role of senior citizens, solve practical problems related to support for the aged and support the sustainable development of an aging society.