Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir? This, or the Chinese version of it, seems to be what some elderly people are saying to their carers at bedtime. The image of the dirty old man has long been in the popular imagination of any number of cultures, and it seems that China has a few such men kicking around itself. And, they appear to be getting what they want.

As China’s demographic timebomb keeps ticking, problems with the aging population go deeper than mere issues of pensions and care. One area that that seems to be an issue amongst China’s senior citizens is the sexual and emotional void in their lives. However, their unmet desires are being answered by the emergence of a new service provided by caregivers. These caregivers are called 陪床保姆 (péichuáng bǎomǔ), literally “accompanying bed nannies”. Want China Times reports:

“A number of these carers are said to be offering sexual services as well, reports our sister newspaper Want Daily… Meanwhile, an insider said that female carers receive double pay if they also provide sexual services, with some people hiring a carer to distract their elderly parent and avoid potential inheritance disputes.“

This phenomenon has become a big hit all over China, which has more than 100 million elderly people who live completely alone (many of which, presumably now have an extra spring in their step). These special nannies have all the responsibilities of a regular caregiver, except for one thing: they also have sex with the pensioners.

A Zhengzhou newspaper reported that a nanny offering sex services could cost anywhere from 600 RMB to 2000 RMB a month, with their age varying from around 30 to 60. This special care service specifically addresses a problem amongst Chinese seniors’ , who are unlikely to remarry, yet still live alone. In the city of Mudanjiang, 50 per cent of the 333,000 people aged over 60 live by themselves. Children of these elderly people usually oppose their fathers re-marrying at such a late age, because of inheritance worries, high divorce rates, and other complexities that may arise from it. However, since they do not live together, they are happy to make amends by finding a caregiver who can not only attend to every daily life, but chucks in something a little extra-special to make the old man happy.

The aging population’s sexual desperation has also led to other problems. According to Xinhua, those who can neither remarry, find a partner, or hire a sexual nanny, either end up opting for regular prostitution, or even go in for sexual molestation. In recent years, there has been a rise in senior people becoming infected with syphilis and AIDS. In rural areas, the situation is even worse. News has periodically popped up regarding old men molesting or raping young or mentally challenged girls.

In a rural town near Hui’an, a 14 year-old girl was discovered pregnant, and told her family she had been “bullied” by several old men for years. China Youth Online reported that three girls (12 to 14 years old) had been sexually assaulted, raped, impregnated, and given STD by four men between the ages of 62 and 72. Such horrific stories make one think that there should be as many sex nannies as possible.

Image courtesy of Jike.com.