Responsibility Distribution Between the Government and Society in Guaranteeing Basic Senior Care Services

The 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China put forward the task to ensure all elderly people enjoy basic senior care services.In an aging society,basic senior care services are key to protecting the basic human rights of the elderly.The government-society partnership is an ideal model to guarantee basic senior care services.In terms of responsibility distribution,the government and social organizations should follow the principle of subsidiarity.On the one hand,social organizations undertake the responsibility to provide basic senior care services under public constraints with regard to service prices,service content,and service targets;On the other hand,the government is the responsible guarantor for minimum senior care services and the prevention of risks.The government’s responsibility of guaranteeing minimum senior care services lies in the government taking over relevant projects after the occurrence of risks.Constrained by the principle of subsidiarity,the government’s responsibility for risk prevention shifts from ex-ante prevention to interim and ex-post prevention.Emphasis should be placed on the principle of the government and society assuming shared responsibilities for risk prevention and achieving risk prevention through government spending.