Youngsters from underdeveloped west China say it is better to rely on their own savings or on care by offspring or other family members to support themselves in their own age, rather than on the country's social security system, which they find baffling, according to a national report.

"Only 29 percent of young people from western regions have a confident attitude about retirement, with more than 50 percent sceptical about whether they will receive a retirement pension. More than 20 percent have a fundamentally pessimistic view of old age," said the report on China's western youth development.

The report, jointly published by the China Youth and Children Research Center (CYCRC) and the National Research Center for Science and Technology for Development, showed that nearly 60 percent of youngsters from western China have more faith in the traditional practice of children supporting parents and reliance on savings.

"By contrast, urban young people who have higher degrees and higher incomes are optimistic about their retirement. The younger they are, the more optimistic," said An Guoqi, deputy director of the CYCRC, who supervised the research.

The report claims that more than 32 percent of western youths have never thought about getting old, while a tiny far-sighted minority of 3.5 percent have bought life insurance in order to prepare for their twilight years.

(Xinhua News Agency January 15, 2007)