The Poverty Alleviation Model for the Solitary Elderly People in the Poor Mountainous Areas of Southwest China: Analysis of "Five Batches Project" in Xundian County

Yuting DONG, Zisheng YANG

Targeted Poverty Alleviation and Development Institute, Yunnan University of Finance and Economics, Kunming 650221, China

Abstract The solitary elderly people in rural areas are not only an important part of the rural population, but also an important issue that can not be ignored in the battle to get rid of poverty. In recent years, according to the working thinking of "accurate statistics, scientific arrangement, classified implementation, and rapid progress", Xundian County has gone through joint exploration and practice at the county and township levels, and has found out the path of work of "Five Batches Project" to solve the problem of poverty alleviation for the solitary elderly people and make them live in their own homes. This has effectively solved the problem of safe and stable housing for 4 443 solitary elderly people in the county. It has found a new way to solve the housing problem of the solitary elderly people. At the end of 2017, the incidence of poverty in the county dropped to 0.35%, and it was successfully listed as one of the first counties in Yunnan Province to get rid of poverty. Based on field research and interviews, this paper analyzes and summarizes the concrete methods, main achievements, practical experience, lessons and reference of the poverty alleviation model of "Five Batches Project" in Xundian County to solve the problem of housing for the elderly, in order to provide necessary reference for the poor counties in Yunnan Province and other similar provinces (cities, autonomous regions) to solve the problem of housing for "solitary elderly people" in Yunnan Province.

Key words Poor mountain areas, Solitary elderly people, Poverty alleviation, "Five Batches Project"

1 Introduction

Poverty eradication or reduction is a basic requirement for the development of human society[1]. The report of the 19th CPC National Congress listed getting rid of poverty as one of the three major battles to win a decisive victory in building a well-off society in an all-round way[2]. Innovating the mechanism of poverty alleviation and development is the key to improving the effectiveness of poverty alleviation and eliminating poverty. The work of poverty alleviation in rural areas in China has now been transformed into accurate poverty alleviation. The implementation of the policy of accurate poverty alleviation and accurate poverty reduction has become the mission of our country to promote and implement the 13th Five-Year Plan and to achieve the goal of building a well-off society in an all-round way[3]. InGivingProminencetoSixAspectsofWorkinImplementingtheSpiritofthe18thNationalCongressoftheCommunistPartyofChinainanAll-RoundWay, Xi Jinping pointed out: "On the way forward, we must persist in safeguarding the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people, seek more interests for the people’s livelihood, solve more problems about the people’s livelihood, and make new progress in education, job, medical treatment, security for the elderly and housing[4]." For the elderly, "medical treatment, sense of security, living in a place of residence" is particularly important. "Having a doctor for the sick" and "having a sense of security for the elderly" are closely linked to "living in a house for the elderly". Whether they are living in a general house, a home for the elderly, a nursing home, or home of respect for the aged, "living in a house for the elderly" is an important prerequisite for "having a doctor for the sick" and "security for the elderly"[5]. In many poor mountainous areas, there are often a certain number of solitary elderly people. They are often special poor groups, their "housing", "medical care" and even "food", "clothing" problems are difficult to ensure. How to solve the housing problem and even get rid of poverty for the solitary elderly people is an important part of the battle to get rid of poverty.

Xundian Hui and Yi Autonomous County is one of the 592 national key counties in poverty alleviation and development work and one of the 38 contiguous poverty alleviation and development counties in Wumeng Mountain area. At the beginning of 2014, Xundian County had a total of 36 078 registered poor rural households, 121 401 poor people, the incidence of poverty was 25.55%. After several years of work to get rid of poverty, at the end of 2018, the incidence of poverty in the county dropped to 0.25%, making it one of the first counties in Yunnan Province to get rid of poverty. In the precise poverty alleviation work in Xundian County, it is found that some of the poor elderly live alone, and problems of insecurity of clothing, food and shelter remain prominent. In order to earnestly implement the important instructions made by General Secretary Xi Jinping during his visit to Yunnan Province in 2015 to "speed up the construction of supportive houses in rural areas, get rid of poverty and solve key problems for everyone", achieve accurate poverty alleviation, and effectively solve the housing problem and living conditions of the solitary elderly people, Xundian County has spared no effort in accordance with the idea of "accurate statistics, scientific arrangement, classified implementation, and rapid progress" through joint exploration and practice at the county and township levels, to form the work path of "Five Batches Project". This has effectively solved the problem of safe and stable housing for 4 443 solitary elderly people in the county. It has found a new way to solve the housing problem of the solitary elderly people, that is, through multi-efforts, multiple participation and multiple security to promote the "Five Batches Project" construction, so that the rural solitary elderly people in the real sense to achieve "old people have a home".

2 Concrete measures of "Five Batches Project" to solve the housing problem of "the solitary elderly people"

2.1 Solving the housing problem for a batch of solitary elderly people and making the policies for the benefit of the people cover allXundian County effectively overcomes poverty and solves the housing problem of the solitary elderly people. For the scattered poor people and the solitary elderly people who are involved in the poverty alleviation policy but do not have the ability to build houses, the county people’s government is responsible for the integration of funds, with emphasis on the arrangement of funds for the renovation of dilapidated houses in rural areas. It integrates funds from civil affairs and poverty alleviation departments, distributes them rationally according to the requirements for the use of funds at higher levels, and gives priority to ensuring the construction of houses for the solitary elderly people. It has also set up construction enterprises to build 40-60 m2basically safe and stable housing, and design dwelling size according to local customs and national characteristics. In the process of construction, the village committee, the head of household participate and cooperate with the supervision side to strengthen the construction quality supervision, ensure the separation of people and livestock, ensure kitchen and sanitation access in the house, guarantee water and electricity and other supporting facilities. In recent years, the county has invested a total of 3 billion yuan in subsidies for building houses at all levels, covering 16 townships (streets), 174 administrative villages, 1 576 natural villages, and 93 194 households in dilapidated housing renovation. Among them, it has solved the housing problem of 1 708 households and 1 708 old people living alone, so that the quality of life of the masses has been further improved.

2.2 Propaganda and education for a batch of people to preach the virtues of respect for the elderly and filial pietyIn view of the fact that the children of the elderly already have safe and stable housing or that their children have been away for a long time, and that the elderly are still living alone in old and dilapidated houses, it organically combines radio, television, slogan propaganda, mass meetings with field visits by rural cadres and so on. It carries out publicity and education activities on traditional virtues such as "supporting filial piety", "respecting the old and cherishing the young" and other traditional virtues in villages throughout the county. It has distributed a total of 5 000 training materials on popularizing-law education and 35 000 copies of relevant laws and regulations for supporting the elderly to 16 townships (streets) and 44 county units throughout the county. It produces publicity audio for broadcast through the village loudspeakers, to create a strong atmosphere for the support of the elderly. For the elderly people, it mobilizes children to take the initiative to bear the responsibility of support. For the childless elderly, it mobilizes the relatives and neighborhoods of the elderly to live with the elderly. It relies on the departments of civil affairs, women’s federations and league committees, administrative mediation and family affection. A total of 2 229 solitary elderly people were helped to live with their children. It enables children to fulfill their obligations of support in accordance with the provisions of national laws and regulations, inherit the traditional virtues of respecting and loving the elderly, and make the elderly feel secure, and happy.

2.3 Judicial assistance for a batch of old people to provide good service and solve disputesThe county formulated theImplementationPlantoFurtherProtecttheLegitimateRightsandInterestsoftheElderlyandStrengthentheSupportoftheElderlytoHelpLiftThemoutofPoverty. Through policy guidance and standardization, it implements the work of supporting the elderly, and relies on county-level public legal service centers to set up green windows for the elderly and provide one-stop services for the elderly. Since its establishment, the center has handled a total of 96 legal aid cases for the elderly, 60 notarized cases, drafted 341 free legal documents, and addressed more than 760 legal consultations. In 2017, in order to help lift people out of poverty and solve key problems, 174 village committees in 16 townships (streets) of the county were organized to investigate contradictions and disputes over supporting the elderly. A total of 177 disputes involving housing and maintenance of the elderly (including 165 cases of mediation by the masses and 12 cases of legal aid) were resolved, effectively safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of the elderly.

2.4 Public welfare assistance to help a batch of old people and make the poor and the weak enjoy benefitsFor some of the solitary elderly people who can not take care of themselves, Xundian County actively guide the elderly to stay in public welfare geriatric nursing home, so that the elderly can be taken care of and accompanied. However, in rural areas, some elderly people have a lot of ideological concerns, they do not want to stay in geriatric nursing home, would rather live alone, life is very inconvenient. For this reason, Xundian County actively carried out ideological persuasion work, door-to-door explanation, assistance by neighbors, relatives and the elderly’s on-the-spot experience, so that the elderly understand that providing for the aged is the concern, care and welfare offered by the Party. At the same time, the county has a budget of 400 000 yuan a year to be invested in the cause of welfare and pension, so as to ideologically relieve the worries of the elderly, and ensure that the elderly have no worries about food and clothing, have access to medical care, and have a sense of happiness for the elderly. At present, 203 elderly people have put down their mental burden and taken the initiative to stay in public welfare geriatric nursing home, so that the elderly can enjoy the care of the government and spend their twilight years in peace.

2.5 Society to help a batch of old people and give love to promote harmonyXundian County vigorously guides, widely mobilizes forces from all walks of life to carry out love and help project, and civil affairs department, the Red Cross, women’s federations and other departments organize social donations. For the elderly who need to build a house, it organizes labor, building materials to help. For those who have moved into the house, it organizes loving donations of household articles and necessities of life. All loving help and donations are led by the government, and organized by special personnel. It adopts the way of "person-to-person, household-to-household" to carry out special supervision over donated goods and funds. It carries out "pairing assistance" activities, invites helpers to come to the assisted people regularly and irregularly, to check the progress of building, the quality of construction, and the use of materials, so as to let the helpers understand and master the realization of their wishes in a timely manner, and ensure that the assistance materials are dedicated to the special use of personnel. It vigorously publicizes and reports on the good people and good deeds of helping others, and creates a good atmosphere of offering donations and helping the poor and helping the weak. The county has helped to solve the housing problem of 126 solitary elderly people, so that the solitary elderly people really feel the warmth from the government and society.

3 Main achievements of "Five Batches Project" in Xundian County in solving the difficult problem of poverty alleviation for the solitary elderly people

Since the beginning of 2017, after comprehensive mobilization and supervision within the scope of 174 village committees (communities) in 16 townships (streets) of the county, Xundian County has effectively solved the problem of safe housing for 4 443 solitary elderly people in the county through "Five Batches Project". It has made a practical breakthrough in the problem of the solitary elderly people. Field research shows that the "Five Batches Project" provides a practical and effective way to solve the problem of the solitary elderly people.

Through moral exhortation, criticism of education, judicial intervention, signing maintenance agreements and other ways on the children of most of the solitary elderly people, we can directly solve the problems of housing safety and food safety, effectively improve the quality of life, and effectively solve the housing problem. This makes this part of the solitary elderly people have a home, enhances the well-being of the elderly, and improves the satisfaction of the masses.

Among the solitary elderly people in rural areas, the households enjoying the five guarantees are a very special group. In the13thFive-YearPlanfortheDevelopmentoftheNationalAgingCauseandtheConstructionoftheEndowmentSystem, issued by the State Council on February 28, 2017, it is pointed out: "It is necessary to promote the support and service institutions, service facilities, and service quality for people living in poverty in rural areas, and on the premise of ensuring the centralized support needs of people living in poverty in rural areas, we will actively provide old-age services for the elderly in rural areas with low income, living alone, disabled or losing labor ability[6]". The households enjoying the five guarantees in rural areas generally refer to the old, weak, orphaned and disabled peasants who do not have the ability to work and do not have the source of income. Their livelihood is supported by the collective, and their lives are guaranteed in food, clothing, shelter, medicine and burial. Because they are childless, their housing problems depend to a large extent on the strength of the government. In 2017, among the solitary elderly people in Xundian County, a total of 1 202 people were included in the households enjoying the five guarantees. According to the poverty alleviation policy and the reality of Xundian, the resettlement of the households enjoying the five guarantees can be divided into two forms: One is centralized placement in a home for the elderly, and the other is a combination of relative concentration and decentralization with the village committee as the unit. According to the findings of the support survey, the center’s homes for the elderly support 173 people in a concentration manner and 1 029 people in a decentralization manner. Judging from the situation of field investigation and support, most of the households enjoying the five guarantees are often used to being free, prefer to live in familiar places, maintain contact with the villagers, and still do not have too high acceptance of centralized support. Centralized support still needs a lot of ideological work, and it is necessary to continue to publicize its benefits.

In order to focus on solving the problem of old and dilapidated houses for the solitary elderly people, Xundian County adopts the policy of getting rid of poverty, government subsidy, building houses under the support of the government, setting up a council for caring for the elderly, deploying village cadres and those responsible for helping the elderly, to ensure that the elderly have a place to live. By May 2018, the county had basically solved the problem of old and dilapidated houses for the elderly living alone. The "Five Batches Project" model of poverty alleviation for the old people living alone has achieved fruitful results, so that the elderly have a sense of security and can enjoy their twilight years. This has made an important contribution to promoting social harmony, lifting rural areas out of poverty in an all-round way, and improving the satisfaction of the masses.

4 Successful experience of the "Five Batches Project" in solving the problem of poverty alleviation for the solitary elderly people

4.1 Extensive publicity to create an atmosphereIt makes use of radio, television, WeChat groups and other media to extensively publicize the rights and interests of the elderly and their laws and regulations, extensively publicize good people and good deeds of filial piety to parents and respect for the elderly, and expose typical cases of abuse, abandonment and failure to fulfill their support obligations. It advocates the new socialist fashion of respecting and loving the elderly in the whole society, and vigorously carries out the core values of socialism and the traditional virtues of respecting the elderly. All township comprehensive management offices, civil affairs offices, police stations, judicial stations, and other relevant units take the initiative and jointly participate in the propaganda work on the rule of law, popularize the general knowledge of the law, and let the masses know the relevant laws and regulations involving the elderly, understand the consequences of breaking the law, strengthen legal awareness, and enhance the consciousness of supporting the elderly. At the same time, in the process of mediation of maintenance disputes, it uses cases to explain the law to make the parties have a deeper understanding of the consequences of breaking the law. All township and county departments have held cadres and worker meetings to publicize laws and regulations on supporting the elderly, put forward clear requirements for state functionaries, taken the lead in fulfilling their respective obligations of support, and properly settled the elderly in their families, and ensured that, in particular, there must be safe and secure housing. At the same time, the unit is required to have the task of joint household cadres and workers, actively cooperate with the village committee, village groups and relevant departments to do a good job in It requires the cadres and workers of the unit to actively cooperate with the village committee, village group and relevant departments to do a good job in the propaganda work in the village for the household. Cadres of village committees and village groups make use of such opportunities as entering the village and the household and holding various mass meetings to preach policies to the masses and publicize the rule of law.

Each village group has strengthened the binding force of the village rules and regulations, introduced the elements of the rule of law into the village rules and regulations, written the duty of support into the village rules and regulations, strengthened the awareness of rules, advocated the spirit of contract, and carried forward public order and good customs, to guide the masses to consciously fulfill their legal obligations, social responsibilities and family responsibilities. In view of the support cases, the county people’s courts have carried out judicial activities in the form of "sunshine judicature" and "circuit courts" to publicly pronounce sentences on cases of universal educational significance, so as to educate a group of people with a case. Schools at all levels and all types of schools carry out education on respecting the elderly and caring for the elderly among students, and take a variety of forms, such as issuing proposals for respecting the elderly and loving the elderly to the students in primary and middle school, writing experiences, and so on, so as to give full play to the role of "holding big hands with small hands" and influence parents through students.

4.2 Judicial protection to safeguard rights and interestsPolitical and legal departments closely cooperate and take the initiative to support villages and towns in their work, using legal weapons and judicial channels to solve outstanding problems in supporting the elderly. This has led to the punishment of criminals, the effective suppression of the unhealthy social atmosphere, and the protection of the legitimate rights and interests of the elderly.

After many times of work, those who still refuse to support the elderly or even abuse the elderly can be punished by the public security organs in accordance with theLawonPublicSecurityAdministrationPunishments. The National legal aid center or township legal aid workstation (judicial office) shall provide legal aid to the elderly and conduct public interest litigation, and it will be tried by the people’s court in accordance with the provisions of the law. The people’s court has already made a judgment, but if a support person fails to perform the effective judgment of the court, we may apply to the people’s court for enforcement. Those who are able to pay maintenance or provide safe housing still refuse to perform the effective judgment of the court after the judgment of the court, the elderly (or other dependants) may apply to the court for criminal responsibility for the failure of their children (or other dependants) to support them. At the same time, if they refuse to perform the effective judgment of the people’s court, they shall be investigated for criminal responsibility in accordance with the provisions of the Criminal Law. The county people’s procuratorate, on the basis of the application for support of the elderly, sends its personnel to participate in the trial to provide litigation support for the elderly.

4.3 Strengthening leadership and defining responsibilitiesThe political and legal committee of the county party committee, the county court, the county civil affairs bureau (county old age office), the county judicial bureau, the county public security bureau, the county education bureau, and the county poverty alleviation office are clearly in charge of the work, and the special departments are responsible for this work, do a good job of supervision and inspection, collect and report the situation, and cooperate with relevant departments to do a good job of publicity, dispute mediation and other work. The county education bureau has organized publicity and education activities at all levels and in all types of schools. All departments of county politics and law do a good job in guiding the operation of legal matters and carry out relevant work in accordance with their respective functions.

All townships (streets) attach great importance to the establishment of a working mechanism in which the main leaders are responsible, the relevant leaders supervise the implementation, and all functional departments participate with clear objectives and clear responsibilities, and coordinate the efforts of all departments to do a good job in centralized governance. It implements the responsibility system, which provides a strong organizational guarantee for the solitary elderly people. It strengthens the role of village committees (neighborhood committees). Village committees (neighborhood committees) regard housing security and support for the elderly as a key task in the critical stage of poverty alleviation, improve the working mechanism, and ensure that responsibilities are fulfilled and work is done. All departments and units directly under the county perform their respective duties, strengthen education and supervision of cadres and workers, and give full play to the exemplary and leading role of state functionaries in supporting the elderly. At the same time, it urges its own unit’s cadres to do a good job in the mass work in villages. Its propaganda department has done a good job in the propaganda and reporting of television and media, including positive typical case propaganda and typical case warning education, which has set off a good social atmosphere of actively supporting the elderly throughout the county.

5 Lessons and reference of "Five Batches Project" in Xundian County to solve the housing problem of solitary elderly people

5.1 Points to learn fromFor a long time, the problem of the solitary elderly people in rural areas is a thorny problem of poverty alleviation and development in rural areas. Through active exploration, Xundian County has gradually established a new way to solve the housing problem of the solitary elderly people, that is, the "Five Batches Project" model. From the five aspects of government backing, moral influence, judicial assistance, public welfare assistance, and social assistance, through the coordination and cooperation of various government departments, it makes a careful analysis and careful verification on each village and household, and it accurately counts the number of solitary elderly people. Based on the actual situation of the solitary elderly people, it carries out the actual door-to-door study, and realistically formulates the reasonable solution of the combination of decentralized support and the relative centralized support of the village committee or the centralized support of the nursing home for the elderly. The successful practice of Xundian County provides a reference and good example for other poor areas to solve the problem of "solitary elderly people" in rural areas.

5.2 The "Five Batches Project" model in Xundian County has a certain practical significance to the higher level policy formulationA large number of people were born between 1953 and 1957 after the founding of New China. The short-term birth of a large number of people is now making China’s population continue to enter the stage of large-scale aging, this process has greatly accelerated the arrival of China’s aging society. With the acceleration of the aging process of the population in China, the problem of providing for the aged has gradually become the focus of social attention[7]. China has implemented the one-child policy for 30 years, which has led to a series of social problems, such as family miniaturization, and empty-nested phenomenon. These phenomena make the problem of providing for the aged in rural China more serious. China’s aging population is increasing rapidly, young and middle-aged people come to work in cities, hollow villages and other problems continue to appear, which makes it urgent to solve the problem of providing for the aged in China.

At present, in China, the two concepts and models of "home pension" and "social pension" are undergoing fierce collision and blending. In view of the transformation of society and economy, many new concepts and models of providing for the aged between these two concepts and models are also budding and developing[7]. The practice of "Five Batches Project" in Xundian County has been successful in solving the housing problem of solitary elderly people, which provides a new thought and a new method for other areas to solve the problem of solitary elderly people in rural areas. To solve the problem of the solitary elderly people, is not only the responsibility of the government, but also the responsibility of the whole society. It is necessary for the government and society to work together to promote its development and explore a socialized road of providing for the aged suitable for China’s national conditions.