Impacts of Social Participation on Self-Rated Health of Aging Women in China: With a Mediating Role of Caring for Grandchildren

Shuliu Tian, Lei Xu and Xiangling Wu
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Shuliu Tian: School of Political Science and Public Administration, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
Lei Xu: School of Political Science and Public Administration, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
Xiangling Wu: School of Political Science and Public Administration, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 11, 1-18

Abstract: Population aging is a global challenge and the degree of population aging is continuing to deepen in China. Under the active aging policy framework by WHO, great importance has been attached to aging women and participation is emphasized for the well-being of the elderly. This study aimed to investigate the relation between social participation and self-rated health status of aging women in China and whether caring for grandchildren mediated such an association. Adopting data from the 2018 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS), this study used Oprobit regression, propensity score matching (PSM), and instrument variable regression to estimate the effects. The result showed that there was a positive association between social participation and self-rated health among aging women in China, and social activities that directly made contributions to others had the most significant impacts on self-rated health. Furthermore, the mediator analysis confirmed that caring for grandchildren played a role between social participation and self-rated health. In conclusion, to deal with population aging challenges, the society should recognize the value of intergenerational care for aging women and the government need to strengthen policy supports to guarantee platforms and opportunities for the elderly to participate in social activities.

Keywords: social participation; self-rated health; caring for grandchildren; aging women; CHARLS (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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