It is a common scene in China, where elderly people play a major role in raising grandchildren. [Photo/IC]

Women, of course, bear the brunt of the deal.

That China's older population is "feminized" has been documented by ample government research. There were some 91.05 million women at 60 years or above on the Chinese mainland, according to the 2010 national census.

Experts Lin Tan and Jia Yunzhu from the Women's Studies Institute of China, a government affiliate, argued in the past that elderly women spend over twice the time than elderly men do on unpaid house hold work.

The All-China Women's Federation, the parent agency of the above institute, advocates a retirement age for women in government jobs of 60 years instead of 55. About 13 provinces have adopted a policy of retiring men and women at 60"at or above county or division levels", an official from the agency says.

The China National Committee on Aging, a Beijing-based representative body, predicts the country will have some 437 million old people in 2050.

Now, shouldn't the out-look make society more sensitive toward the elderly?

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