The Effects of Co-Residence on the Subjective Well-Being of Older Chinese Parents

Shanwen Zhu, Man Li, Renyao Zhong and Peter C. Coyte
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Shanwen Zhu: School of Public Administration, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China
Man Li: School of Public Administration, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China
Renyao Zhong: School of Public Administration, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China
Peter C. Coyte: Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto, Toronto, M5T 3M6, Canada

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 7, 1-17

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of co-residence on the parental subjective well-being among older Chinese parents. Our analysis included 2968 elderly parents. Parental subjective well-being was stratified into positive well-being (PWB) and negative well-being (NWB). Positive well-being was assessed through questions about life satisfaction, optimism, and happiness and NWB was measured by questions about fear, loneliness, and feelings of uselessness. We found co-residence with adult children resulted in a significant average increase in PWB by 0.17 points relative to those who did not cohabitate. In rural China, co-residence with adult children significantly increased PWB by 0.19 points, and co-residence with a son significantly increased parental PWB by 0.18 points. Negative well-being fell significantly by 0.63 points if co-residence was with an adult daughter. Our findings imply that support from adult children significantly improved parental PWB, especially for the elderly in rural China. Public policies that facilitate the strengthening of cohabitation may help improve the well-being for older Chinese residents. Our study makes two main contributions to the international literature: first, we strengthened the causal inferences regarding the effects of co-residence with adult children on parental well-being through the use of a longitudinal study design; and second, we introduced a difference-in-differences propensity score matching (PSM-DID) approach to address potential selection bias that has previously been ignored in the literature.

Keywords: co-residence with adult children; transition in living arrangements; parental well-being (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:7:p:2090-:d:220937

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