Chongqing - From Zhejiang to Guangxi, "intergenerational co-living" programs offer young people low-cost housing in return for volunteering with older residents, but keeping them for the long term remains a challenge.

A young volunteer teaches a senior to use the smartphone at an elderly care facility in Jinyun county, Zhejiang province. (Photo/Tang Tao, Xinhua)

Young people living in nursing homes, chatting and taking walks with older residents in exchange for cheap or free rent: across China, a new kind of housing arrangement is meeting the needs of two generations under one roof.

Known as "intergenerational co-living," the model has been tested in places including Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Guangxi. Young residents provide entertainment, companionship, help with daily tasks and health education, and in return they pay little or no rent.

Companionship both ways

On a recent afternoon at the Wuxiang Elderly Care Service Center in Nanning, Guangxi, Liang Yinxia was setting out art supplies and walking older residents through a painting class. She also takes them for walks, reads them the news and teaches them to use smartphones.

Liang, who was born in the 1990s, became the center's first co-living volunteer in August. A former nurse who switched careers to become a lawyer in 2024, she signed up because the center is close to her office and volunteering cuts her rent.

Building trust took time. Gradually, residents began sharing their life stories. "They have a lifetime of experience and wisdom," Liang said. "You only see it when you really get close to them."

The benefits run both ways. An 83-year-old resident surnamed Li said she now has more people to talk to. "When I can't keep up with the video lessons, having a young person explain things makes it much easier," she said.

In Jinyun County, Zhejiang, Wu Weifeng moved from Jiangsu in August 2024 to work at a local hospital. When he learned that a nearby nursing home had empty staff dormitory rooms offering a rent discount for volunteering, he signed up.

"At first I didn't know what to say, but the older residents came over and asked about me," Wu said. The experience has also made him more patient with older relatives at home.

In Hangzhou, Zhejiang, Qiu Shaoqi first moved into a nursing home for the free rent but now doesn't want to leave because of the "old friends" he has made. Young residents teach older people to use AI tools, while seniors share their work experiences and memories of old Hangzhou.

"Since the young people moved in, there's a lot more laughter," said Hu Yangfang, head of a nursing home in Jinyun.

How it works

Last year, four nursing homes in Nanning were selected for a co-living pilot. In Jinyun, where trials began in 2024, 95 young people have lived at Hu's nursing home, and 13 live there now.

Discounted rent is the main draw. In June, the Wuxiang center began recruiting volunteers aged 22 to 40 who do not own a home in Nanning. Thirty hours of service a month earns a 500-yuan (about 75 USD) rent reduction, 40 hours earns 750 yuan, and 50 hours covers the full 1,000-yuan rent.

Seniors learn a fitness routine in a dance studio. (Photo/Lin Shanchuan, Xinhua)

In Jinyun, volunteers aged 18 to 45 can live in unused staff dormitories, with rent cut by 200 yuan, 500 yuan or the full amount for 10, 20 or 30 hours of service a month. In Hangzhou's Binjiang District, some nursing homes offer free housing for at least 10 hours of service a month, saving some young residents around 30,000 yuan a year.

Huang Zibiao, deputy director of the Wuxiang center, said it gives priority to applicants with backgrounds in social work, health care, psychology or law. Social workers and nurses guide volunteers, and their service is logged and reviewed regularly.

The rules also allow some flexibility. In September, when Liang was busy at work and unwell, she completed only 26 of her 30 hours, so the center let her make up the remaining four in October. "We need quality service, but we also have to consider young people's circumstances," Huang said.

Some places are going further. Jinyun has introduced a "time bank" across 24 elderly care facilities, where each hour of volunteering earns 15 points, with more points for harder tasks. Points can be exchanged for elderly care services or daily goods, or transferred to immediate family members. More than 1,000 people have signed up.

Zhu Panpan, a medical resident at Jinyun County People's Hospital, keeps a time-bank passbook recording each session. "Every entry is a record of that warmth," she said.

Making it last

National policy has encouraged such efforts. A 2023 guideline on basic elderly care called for mutual assistance in society, and a 2025 central government document called for developing volunteer services for older people and exploring time-bank systems.

Challenges remain, however. Many older residents said they would rather have someone drop by regularly to listen than attend occasional lively events. But young volunteers' availability is often uncertain. Some have moved out because of job changes or long commutes, Huang said.

"Moving in and fitting in are two different things," said Zhang Yingxi, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. For some young people, cheap housing is only a short-term choice, making it hard to sustain long-term relationships.

Safety and costs are also concerns. Young residents are not trained caregivers, so nursing homes face new challenges in safety, privacy and risk management, said Xia Xuemin, a researcher at Zhejiang University. Wei Wanqing, a professor at South China Agricultural University, noted that remote facilities have cheaper housing but struggle to attract young people, while city-center homes are more convenient but more expensive to run.

For Liang, a good living environment, fair rent discounts and a sense of fulfillment are what keep young people involved.

Experts say co-living works best as a supplement to professional elderly care. They suggest starting with well-managed facilities that have spare rooms and good transport links, and gradually improving recruitment, training and evaluation. Zhang also recommended combining government support, charitable funding and private investment with incentives like time banks to make the model sustainable.