China’s ‘Loneliness Industry’: How a Meal Delivery Service Is Helping Elderly People Live Alone

At 91, Yang lives on the outskirts of Beijing, China’s bustling capital, and says isolation was the hardest part of growing old. “The biggest difficulty really was the loneliness. Sometimes, if I wanted to talk to someone I’d talk to the TV,” she told BBC.

After her husband died, her loneliness deepened to the point where she thought about voluntary euthanasia. “I asked my son about it but he told me it was banned. I told him that if it ever becomes legal I want to do it – I didn’t want to live any longer.”

Her struggles were not only emotional. Glaucoma has left her eyesight failing, and she could not manage everyday tasks such as adjusting the controls on her air conditioner.

A growing problem in Chinese cities

Stories like Yang’s are becoming more common across urban China. Associate Professor Teresa Kuan of the Chinese University of Hong Kong told the BBC that the problem is “exacerbated by the structure of society and the modes by which people interact”.

The causes of isolation are varied. Rural migrants often leave close-knit support networks behind to chase economic opportunities in urban centres, where loneliness and uncertainty can be hard to overcome. Graduates, too, may uproot themselves to find work on the other side of the country.

In response, a “loneliness industry” has emerged to fill the gaps left in people’s lives.

Hot meals and much more

One such service has changed Yang’s daily life. Wang Yingwei and his electric scooter delivery team visit her twice a day with hot meals, but their help goes well beyond food.

“We see ourselves as community children,” Yingwei told the BBC. “It means putting yourself in the shoes of older people and carefully considering their needs.

“For example, they may be drinking tap water which can be cloudy and contain a lot of lime. I can fix this problem with a filtered water tank. Such a small thing can make them much happier. Maybe they can’t shower because their equipment is broken. I’ll buy a part, replace it and their shower is fine.”

“The elderly treat us like their children, and we treat them like our own parents,” he added.

The service costs less than half the price of hiring a caregiver.

Rooted in a family experience

Yingwei, a former mobile phone salesman, founded his company so that seniors could stay in their own homes rather than move into retirement facilities. His motivation came from personal experience. His father-in-law developed Alzheimer’s and had to enter a nursing home, where Yingwei found the conditions so sub-standard that he resolved to help others avoid institutions like it for as long as possible.

His small business currently employs four people. With demand growing, he says expansion is a possibility.