From Cradles to Canes: The Challenges of Transforming China’s Kindergartens into Elderly Care Homes Amidst Societal Shifts

The Challenges of Transforming China's Kindergartens into Senior Care Facilities

As the birth rate declines and the population ages, elderly care emerges as a lucrative sector. However, business owners encounter multiple obstacles in this transition.

In the two decades plus one year that Yu Bo has managed kindergartens, he has never experienced such difficulty in enrolling students.

Before, he never had to market his services. Parents filled his office, eager to pay upfront for a whole year just to secure a spot. Some mothers even approached him when they were expecting.

At the height of their entrepreneurial success, the couple operated 11 kindergartens in Jining, located in Shandong province of eastern China. They employed close to 400 teachers and enrolled over 2,000 children.

Beginning in 2022, Yu observed a decline in student enrollment.

"I've crunched the numbers. If there are less than 120 kids in a single kindergarten, I end up losing money," he explained.