高龄津贴(gāolíng jīntiē): Old age allowance

According to the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the governments in 26 municipalities, provinces and autonomous regions, including Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Shanxi province and the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, provide old age allowances.

As well as a pension, the governments in these provincial regions provide old age allowances or nutrition allowances to local residents who are over 80 years old. The amount varies.

Tianjin provides an old age allowance of 500 yuan ($75) per month to residents aged 100 or older, which is the highest nationwide.

Zhejiang province provides an old age allowance of 30 yuan per month to local residents aged 80 or older, while neighboring Jiangsu province provides 300 yuan old age allowance per month.

Twenty of the 26 provincial areas have launched an old age support allowance and 17 out of the 26 regions provide an old age nursing allowance.

In Beijing, senior residents aged between 60 to 79 years with serious disabilities receive a 100 yuan nursing allowance and 100 yuan old age support allowance each month.

Tianjin provides the elderly with an old age allowance according to their actual situation. Rural impoverished households or parents of a single child living in rural areas who are over 80 years old can get subsidized favorably.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs urges the remaining provinces and regions to learn from the experience of these 26 provincial regions and launch old age allowances to assist the elderly as soon as possible.