Temporal and Spatial Differences in the Social Elderly Care Burden in China
Based on demographic data from 2000 to 2021,this study used the Moran's Ⅰ and Theil index to measure inter-provincial spatial and temporal differences in the social elderly care burden in China.The results indicate that the social elderly care burden in China is generally increasing as the population ages,and the overall disparity in this burden continues to widen.The differences among regions are the main reason for the continuous expansion of the overall disparity,showing a U-shaped development trend.The contribution rate of inter-regional differences in social care burden to the overall difference shows a positive U-shaped trend,whereas the contribution rate of intra-regional differences to the overall difference shows an inverted U-shaped trend.Further research reveals that the intra-regional differences are widening in southwestern and northwestern China,while the internal disparities in other regions are gradually narrowing.The spatial correlation of social elderly care burden among province-level administrative regions in China is primarily observed in the eastern,southern,and northern coastal areas.Notably,the North China Plain exhibits a high concentration of social elderly care burden,while the low-to-high concentration is mainly found in the central and eastern China,shifting to northern China after 2010.The research results indicate that regional development models can reduce internal disparities in social elderly care burden and promote balanced economic and social development within regions.
social eldercare burdenTheil indextemporal trendsregional differencesspatial correlation