While 65-year-old Aunt Zhang was walking her teddy bear, Doubao, on the community lawn, 28-year-old programmer Xiaolin was preparing goat milk powder for her ragdoll cat, Nian Gao. These two seemingly unrelated scenes point to a common social trend: National Bureau of Statistics data shows that by 2023, the proportion of people aged 60 and over in my country will reach 19.8%. During the same period, the marriage rate will drop to 5.2‰ and the fertility rate will fall below 1%, while the number of pet dogs and cats will exceed 120 million, with a compound growth rate of 12% over the past five years. These shifts in demographic structure and the rise in pet ownership are forming a clear, positive correlation.
An aging society has given rise to the phenomenon of "pet intergenerational companionship." In empty-nest elderly households, pets serve as "non-blood family members." A survey by the Ministry of Civil Affairs shows that 72% of elderly people living alone consider their pets "emotional support," and that the presence of pets can reduce scores on the Elderly Depression Scale by 34%. A Shanghai community elderly care center has even introduced "pet companionship therapy," regularly organizing volunteers to bring trained dogs to visit elderly parents who have lost their only child. Data shows that this has increased social interaction by 58%. For elderly individuals with limited mobility, the daily interactions of feeding and grooming their pets are both a ritual and a remedy against loneliness.
The "active singleness" of the new generation of young people has made pets their "life partners." Zhaopin.com data shows that among unmarried young people born in the 1980s and 1990s, 46% own pets, with a high percentage of those who "do not plan to marry and have children." These young people are incorporating pets into their "life plans." Among Beijing pet undertaker Xiao Zhou, the proportion of clients under 30 purchasing cemeteries for their pets has increased by 40% over the past three years. A Hangzhou bank has launched "pet critical illness insurance," with over 70% of policyholders born in the 1990s. Pets are no longer simply "playmates" but have been given family roles such as "fur children" and "roommates." Young people's purchases of imported food and smart toilets for their pets are essentially paying for "non-traditional families."
The surge in pet ownership is reshaping social services. Shopping malls in cities like Beijing and Shanghai are now offering "pet-friendly" sections, high-speed rail is piloting pet check-in services, and some developers are even offering "pet-themed apartments"—units equipped with cat climbing frames and dog toilets command a 15% premium, yet demand remains high. Behind this shift lies a redefinition of society's need for companionship: as traditional family structures gradually weaken, pets are becoming a new source of emotional connection, filling the gaps in social relationships left by an aging population and low marriage rates.
In a pet cemetery in the United States, a tombstone bears the inscription: "For fifteen years, you accompanied me through my lonely years." This may be the underlying logic behind the current rise of the pet economy: as demographic shifts make traditional companionship scarce, pets are gently reshaping people's definition of "home," writing an emotional footnote to this era, as reflected in the positively correlated data.
Compiled by：Luna
2025.08.6
