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China’s “shared children” offer companionship for older people at up to $120 for three hours
🇰🇷 South Korea /Culture & Society

China’s “shared children” offer companionship for older people at up to $120 for three hours

From Dong-A Ilbo · () Korean

Translated from Korean and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Ongoing story
  • Paid companionship services in China connect older people with young adults for conversation, errands, smartphone assistance and hospital visits, charging about $29 to $88 for three hours in some advertisements.
  • The services have emerged amid rapid population ageing, family separation and an estimated shortage of 5.5 million professional care workers.
  • Officials and experts have called for safety and employment standards, while distinguishing the commercial services from the government’s nonprofit community mutual-aid programs.

For as much as $120, older people in China can hire a young companion for three hours to talk, help with a smartphone or accompany them to a hospital or grocery store. The services, advertised on social media, have been dubbed “shared children” or “outsourced children.”

The companions do not provide professional medical or nursing care. At the Happy Home startup in Tianjin, 28-year-old employee Sun Suyang said most clients live alone while their children work in distant cities. He said conversations with younger people can restore older customers’ energy.

The business is emerging as China’s population ages rapidly. The National Bureau of Statistics said 323.38 million people aged 60 or older lived in the country at the end of 2025, representing 23% of the population. The World Health Organization expects that figure to reach 402 million, or 28% of the population, by 2040.

When older people talk with young people, they regain vitality.

— Sun SuyangA Happy Home employee described the benefit clients receive from paid companionship.

Decades of the one-child policy and the movement of young people to cities have left more families living apart. China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs said more than half of older people were living without children or other family members in a 2022 survey. A separate survey estimated a shortage of 5.5 million professional care workers.

The government has promoted nonprofit community mutual-aid services, aiming for more than 70% of urban and rural community elder-care facilities to include such functions by 2030. Commercial companionship operates separately, and critics have warned that untrained workers could mishandle emergencies or gain access to sensitive documents and property records. TimeBank and Happy Home said they screen and train workers. TimeBank also said it matches companions by gender where possible and uses body cameras with clients’ consent. The idea has prompted debate over whether paid assistance can fit with traditional expectations of filial duty. Fudan University ageing researcher Peng Xizhe said the key issue is what form of service older people need, while economist Li Bingqin urged clear professional and safety standards so paid companions complement rather than replace family and formal care.

Ultimately, what matters is what kind of service older people need.

— Peng XizheThe Fudan University ageing researcher addressed the debate over paid companionship and filial responsibility.
About this summary

Originally published by Dong-A Ilbo in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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