All People Age, But Some Age in a Harder Way: Aging LGBTQ+ Population in Chinese Cities

With the intensification of population aging in China, the LGBTQ+ community in urban areas is facing more severe aging challenges. This study focuses on the aging dilemmas of the elderly LGBTQ+ group in Chinese cities, adopting a combination of questionnaire surveys (1,473 valid questionnaires recovered, including 644 from the elderly LGBTQ+ group and 829 from the non-LGBTQ+ elderly group) and in-depth interviews (with 50 elderly LGBTQ+ individuals), and conducts analysis using SPSS statistical software.The results show that there are significant differences between the elderly LGBTQ+ group and the non-LGBTQ+ elderly group in terms of family support, economic status, social discrimination, and satisfaction with elderly care services. The group suffers from a severe lack of family support: only 12.6% have biological children, and the proportions of those receiving economic, daily care, and emotional support from their children are far lower than those of the non-LGBTQ+ group. Economically, their monthly income and pension savings are relatively low, and 68.9% cannot afford unexpected medical expenses. They generally experience discrimination in employment, medical care, community life, etc., and their satisfaction with elderly care services, especially in terms of inclusiveness, is significantly low.Correlation analysis indicates that community elderly care support has a strong positive correlation with quality of life, social discrimination has a moderate negative correlation with it, and monthly income has a weak positive correlation with it. The research conclusions point out that targeted intervention measures need to be taken, such as expanding inclusive community elderly care services, strengthening anti-discrimination policies, and promoting educational inclusiveness, to improve the aging life situation of this group.