Re-examining the definition of the elderly is particularly important to cope with the great challenges arisen from rapid aging process. This paper analyses the changes of the elderly's self-care living ability from the dimensions of self-assessment of self care ability, ability of daily living (ADL), instrumental activities of daily living (IADL), group heterogeneity and annual average relative change rate based on the data collected from the survey of the conditions and intention of aging population in Shanghai 1998-2013. The findings reveal that the self-care living ability of the elderly keep increasing in the period and the elderly of the younger generation are much healthier,younger than their counterpart of earlier generations. This means the connotation of the elderly are changing and the social public policies for the elderly should take the new changes into account as the solution for aging challenge.%老龄化是社会经济发展的必然趋势,正确理解老年是应对老龄化挑战的重要基础.本文基于"上海市老年人口状况和意愿"1998-2013年调查数据,从自评自理能力、日常生活自理能力(ADL)、工具性日常生活活动能力(IADL)和自理能力的群体异质性与年平均相对变化率四个维度,考察了老年人口生活自理能力的时代变迁.研究揭示我国老年人口的生活自理能力随着时间的推移呈现出上升趋势,后世代的老年人要比前世代"更健康"、 "更年轻".这为重新思考老年定义,转变社会观念,重构老龄社会的公共政策体系提供了必要依据.
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