| Sumario: | Purpose With the increase of the aging population, pension issues become prominent in China. But there is a question whether the house-for-pension pattern can be used to solve this problem. The characteristic of Chinese urban-rural dual structure results in the difference of elderly living between urban and rural areas. This study analyzes the factors affecting the will of living and the living arrangements of the elderly in China. It analyzes how gender impacts the choice of elderly in their living arrangements as well. It makes a thorough inquiry to the applicable and feasible of house-for-pension pattern in China. Then this study puts forward new technology for the elderly with mobility impairments and living alone: the gerontechnology used where the elderly live. Method This paper uses the data on CHLSL (1998-2008)1 to analyze the effect of living arrangements on their survivor time. We use logistic regression and Cox model to deal with the categorical variables and the hazard ratio on the different living arrangements. Results & Discussion House-for-pension pattern is also called reverse mortgage. But under the Chinese elderly pension current situation, the feasibility of the house-for- pension pattern is still in question. As Figure 1 indicates, for elderly to live with family has the lowest mortality risk as compared with other living arrangements. The analysis indicates that the best option for the elderly is to live with family. Compared with the urban elderly, rural elderly are more willing to live with their children. This is due to the better social security and education the urban elderly have and the better pension they have compared with those in rural environments2. It results in the more independent the urban elderly is as well. The further the elderly live away from their children, the more willing they are to live alone. However, gerontechnology can help the elderly to decrease their willingness to live alone. If the living place of elderly is installed with a sort of networked application, the elderly can use mobile phones to control digital cameras or satellite TV. Otherwise, their children can take care of them from long distances. Nowadays, most rural elderly do not have social security and income from pension3. But the value of the famers' living places in China is low compared with other houses. Many farmers' homes have no real estate license. That is, reverse mortgage for them is useless. Compared with the urban elderly, especially for the elderly who own the houses or apartment in cities, there is no need for them to use the house-for-pension pattern. So combined with the living arrangement of the elderly, it is not appropriate to implement reverse mortgage in China now. But with the popularization of gerontechnology, the house-for-pension may become a good way for old-age security in China.
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