IND 548_Project 1

LIU Hongyang_MSD_NPI

Meeting the Need of a Lowincome Population

Description of population

There are three degrees of poverty: 1) extreme, or absolute, poverty defined by the World Bank as a
household that gets by on less than $1 a day, not enough to support the basic needs of survival; 2) moderate poverty, defined as living on $1 or $2 a day, where basic needs are met but just barely; and 3) relative poverty, as defined by income below a certain level of the national average.

I will focus on a group of urban people who retired due to the age reason and stay in the 4-2-1
family structure.

The characteristic of the aim population (retired, old people who live in the cities) as follows: 1) They
are old, retired people who live in the cities; 2) They are under the 4-2-1 family structure; 3) They do not have extra money except their pension; 4) Normally, each old person/couple has an apartment.

The problems which my target group faces right now are: 1) They are infirm, and need care. This is a
common problem of the 4-2-1 family structure; 2) Due to the limitation from their small pension, they can not afford to live in the nursing home with the better conditions.

The 4-2-1 family

Only children from single-child parents face what is known as the 4-2-1 phenomenon: when the child reaches working age, he or she could have to care for two parents and four grandparents in retirement.

graph 1. 1950 China was a developing country, with high birth rates and a life expectancy of about 44 years.

graph 2. 1980 China's one-child policy was introduced in 1979. Exemptions are allowed, eg. couples who had a girl first, families in rural areas, etc.

graph 3. 2010

When children of the one-child generation reach their 30s or 40s, there is a good chance their parents and grandparents will be alive and need some form of care.

In China, long-term urban residents with formal sector employment can expect to receive a pension
upon retirement, but face mandatory retirement at a relatively young age. Where urban employed men confront mandatory retirement at age 60, women in blue collar occupations are frequently required to retire at age 50, those in white collar occupations at age 55, with women in some categories (e.g., university professors) able to work until age 60. Among current retirement-age residents of urban areas, a large share is receiving relatively generous pension support. By contrast, rural elderly, who had lower incomes during their working lives and less accumulated wealth than their urban counterparts (Kanbur and Zhang, 1999; Ravallion and Chen, 2007), do not typically have pension income. According to the 2005 1% population sample, 45.4% of urban residents over age 60 report pension income as their most important source of financial support. (Giles, Wang, and Cai, 2012).

(BBC News, 2012)

Older people in China have traditionally been taken care of by their children. Nursing homes for the
elderly are still an alien idea in much of Asia. Those that enter nursing homes often feel as if they are being sent away and rejected. Traditionally, grown children took care of their parents when they became old. Three in ten Chinese families have grandparents living in the same household. Things are changing quickly. The one-child generation is more likely to be spoiled and self-centered. As adults, children of this generation lack the inclination to support their parents. In 2006, 42 percent of Chinese families consisted of an old couple living alone. In a survey in 2002, half of the elderly respondents said they preferred to live alone rather than with their children. The finding dispelled the concept that most elderly Chinese want to be taken care of by their children. (Giles, Wang, and Cai, 2012)

Background data: The standard of the apartment which the old people already have is two-bedroom
in the area of about 90 square meters. Government preferential policies are including relief for the business tax for the real estate property transaction, monthly (?) rental, and relief for the project start-up capital. This program can be tentatively called - Housing Endowment Plan. Normally in China, the cost of changing an apartment in to two sets is about 60,000 yuan RMB; 5) In urban area, the rent

of a 90 square meters apartment is about 5000 yuan RMB monthly; 6) 100 yuan RMB = 16 USD dollar (approximately equal).

Saving for retirement is especially difficult for workers with small salaries. Many low-income workers
don't have access to a retirement account at work and simply have less money to build a nest egg after paying their monthly bills. I propose some strategies to help retire people who are on the low-income situation save for the future on a small wage.

Boundaries: People who do not meet the four characteristics of the target population are not
considered within the solution. And the target people who I researched live in Tiexi District, Shenyang City in Liaoning Province where nearly 70 million laid-off workers found that paying endowment insurance for them is a luxury.

(news.qq.com, 2012)

The housing and living conditions of target population who lived in Tiexi District, Shenyang City, Liaoning Province, China.

The goal of these solutions is to use product design and health care design to help my target
population live in a more comfortable and economically secure environment.

Potential solutions
The potential solutions for retired old people who live in city must be effective, with low cost. And the resources must be easily available and sufficient.

The government introduced preferential policies: the establishment of specialized service agencies. Let retired old people who lived in their own community separately, and through voluntary, real
estate property transactions, concentrated them together in a relatively concentrated area.

Separate the apartment in to two parts. We could choose a suitable one for older people, and the
other one could be using to rent. The rent could be used to set up a dedicated fund. This dedicated fund for housing and environmental reform could be used to employ professional care and management, and purchase service facilities and equipment. I call this a Housing Endowment Plan.

Based on the housing and living conditions of retired, old people who live in the cities, below are my
three potential solutions. The first one (The existing housing and living conditions) is the existing system for serving need for comparison purposes. Solution 1 is the enhanced design concept which is compared to the existing housing and living conditions. Solution 2 is a product design which could help retired, old people who live in the cities walking outside easily and let them close to nature and other community residents instead of being restricted to their room.

The existing housing and living conditions the current situation

The current situation is that most of older, retired people who live in the cities have an apartment. The apartment is about 75-90 m2. Normally, the old people (or the couple) do not need to use the fully area of 75-90 m2. And the current environment of their existing housing and living conditions is not good for their living, because they lack of the pension and the indoor facilities are not available. They might easily fall down to the floor without anybody else noticing.

 economic implications
Because the sphere of activity for the old people is limited, they do not need too much area. Mean while the rent fee of a 40m2 apartment in Shenyang City approximately could be 2500 yuan RMB. So they can earn 2500 yuan RMB monthly which is approximately equal to the lower level salary in Shenyang City.

social practicality implications

While there is a clear social and demographic imperative to design systems that are appropriate for use by older people and for those with disabilities, the design methodology must be carefully considered (Wanklyn, 1996). The government could introduce preferential policies: the establishment of specialized service agencies. Also, let those retired old people who have lived in their own community separately, and through voluntary, real estate property transactions, concentrate them together in a relatively concentrated area.

ecological implications
Considering that almost a half area of the apartment is unused and could be used more effectively.

Solution 1_split apartment with handrail facility

Due to the limitation of their little pension, they cannot afford to live in the nursing home. And the current environment of their existing housing and living conditions lack indoor facilities for older people. They can easily fall to the floor without anybody noticing. So after separate the apartment into two parts, one side is for the older people living in, and the other one could be used to rent. The rent could be be directed to dedicated fund for the target population. This dedicated fund for housing and environmental reform, could be used to employ professional care and management, and purchase service facilities and equipment.

 economic implications
The material for the hand rail is antimicrobial nylon, and the material of lined portion support is NO.304 pure stainless steel. The cost of one meter antimicrobial nylon tube will be 90 yuan RMB (according to the orange line area of the whole length of the handrail facility the whole length of antimicrobial nylon tube will be ten meters)and one meter pure stainless steel tube material is about 140 yuan RMB. And the whole length of the steel tube is the length of the handrail, so it should be 19 meters. Because the handrail facility will only be installed in the orange line area (see the photo above), the install fee will not be more than 300 yuan RMB. The total cost of the handrail facility which was installed in a 75 m2 apartment might be approximately 3860 yuan RMB. Mean while the rent fee of a 40m apartment in Shenyang City approximately could be 2500 yuan RMB. So it means only two months rent will afford the rail installation cost.
2

social practicality implications

Research indicated that both housing tenure and perceived housing conditions were found to be significant in predicting life satisfaction of elderly residents. Homeowners and those who rated their housing as in better condition reported higher levels of life satisfaction. As found in previous studies, older respondents reported higher levels of life satisfaction. When the homeowners were asked if owning a home made them feel better or worse or had no effect on how they feel about themselves, a full 85 percent responded that owning made them feel better. The remaining 15 percent said it had no effect. When respondents were asked if owning a home gave them more or less control, or had no impact on the amount of control they have over their lives, 71 percent said that owning had given them increased control over their lives, 27 percent said it had no effect, and two percent said it had reduced the amount of control they have over their lives. Finally, when asked if home ownership has changed their lives in a positive way or a negative way or had no real impact on their lives, approximately 89 percent said it has had a positive impact, two percent said it has had a negative impact, and ten percent said it has had no impact on their lives.3 So higher levels of life satisfaction of the retired, old could be gained by letting them make money from their house property. (Newell and Gregor, 2002)

ecological implications
The NO.304 pure stainless steel is hardness far more than zinc alloy, iron pipes, steel pipes, loading capacity of up to 400 pounds. The antimicrobial nylon contain special LGD antibacterial grain, and resistant to most of the harmful bacteria and reduce the spread of bacteria cross which could cause the disease to spread, considering that their still have restroom and kitchen which are public area, The structure of the handrail facility can be installed directly on the wall, it will take totally 4 screws for each handrail which could be easily separate apart for the future use or the second use.

Solution 2_walking stick

This is a product which could help retired, old people who live in the cities to walk outside easily and let them walk close to nature and other community residents instead of just sitting in their room. The material of the stick is local material-elm wood.

 economic implications
The material of walking stick is elm wood, which can be grown within a 300 km radius of the population. The 1 m elm wood cost 60 yuan RMB. And the machinery production plus handmade fee of that walking stick could be total 200 yuan RMB. And the elm wood is the local wood of Shenyang province. So the total cost of the stick will be about 300 yuan RMB.
2

social practicality implications

The life of retired people should not be boring, they need to have a positive attitude as well as join in the social activity. Because many older people are considered to be helpless, and deserving of sympathy. But if the older people can get involved with more social activity or community activity, then other people changed their minds. And the old people will become more positive and have more self-satisfaction.

ecological implications
Since the elm wood is the local wood of Shenyang province, so the manufacture of the wood may contributes to the local economy and save the cost of shipping fee. Also, according to the research of the area which were my target population lived, before they retired most of them are working for the mechanical operation or the worker in the factory. So it will be more effective and a win-win strategy that re-hire some of the worker from the Tiexi District community, and let them make their life better by making the stuff for their own and their neighbor.

Citations
1. John Giles, Dewen Wang, and Wei Cai, 2012, 6 The Labor Supply and Retirement Behavior of Chinas Older Workers and Elderly in Comparative Perspective, National Center for Biotechnology Information, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK109217/ 2. A. F. Newell, P. Gregor, 2002, Design for older and disabled people-where do we go from here?, Springer-Verlag, UK 3. William M. Rohe, Michael A. Stegman, 2007, The Effects of Homeownership: on the Self-Esteem, Perceived Control and Life Satisfaction of Low-Income People, Journal of the American Planning Association, USA 4. William M. Rohe, Michael A. Stegman, 1994, The Impact of Home Ownership on the Social and Political Involvement of Low-Income People, Urban Affairs Review, USA 5. Emil Smith, Robert Coe, Alexander Tseng and Joyce Kallgren, 1974, Walking on Two Legs: A Panel Discussion of Science Policy in the People's Republic of China, American Academy of Arts & Sciences, USA 6. P. Wanklyn, 1996, Homes and Housing For Elderly People, BMJ: British Medical Journal, UK