I had not noticed this before and maybe she has been there before now, but Charlie and Ella spotted her on our way to the supermarket the day they left China on their way back

The Girl on the Trike

home to the UK.  Since then I have seen her twice – once sitting on her (grand)father’s shoulders as he sat on a chair on the pavement in front of a small table.  He was sitting with three other mates and they were all playing cards, whilst she, I have presumed his granddaughter, but maybe his daughter, looked on.  The third time I saw her she was back inside her box.  The weather was cooler than the day this picture was taken and the bed-flap was more or less closed and she was again asleep.  On both occasions it was mid-afternoon.  Her carer sells fruit from a flat-bed tricycle which parks up on the pavement.  Whilst you have seen pictures of fantastically modern shopping malls and have seen me write of maseratis and ferraris that roar around the streets of Shanghai, for most Chinese, even in this most wealthiest of Chinese cities, life is a daily grind.

Many children are looked after by their grandparents whilst their parents go out to work.  We know of grandparents that have left their own town and come to Shanghai, knowing no-one, so that they can bring up their daughter’s child.  There is not much in the way of state pension and it is the duty of the next generation to support their retired parents.  It is worth bearing in mind that I am past one of the current female retirement ages here in China.  Women retire at 50 if they work in a factory or at 55 if they work in the public sector, although that is starting to change.  The retirement age for men is currently 60.

The working population of China began to shrink in 2013, partly due to the one-child policy generation starting to reach retirement.  Over 60-year-olds are expected to make up 39% of the population by 2050 (up from 15% at the moment).  There are currently three working people supporting each pensioner, but by 2050 this is expected to reach 1.3 workers.

As in the UK, the idea that the Chinese population may have to start working for longer, has not gone down very well on the country’s social media platforms.