Finance, School of Management, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China.
Economics, School of Humanities, Social Science and Law, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China.
Front Public Health. 2021 Sep 16;9:675927. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2021.675927. eCollection 2021.
The incidence of chronic diseases has increased dramatically due to rapid aging and lifestyle changes of China in recent decades. The population aged more than 45 years is an important participant in the labor force market, and the health status directly affects their labor force participation decision. This study aims to explore the relationship between chronic diseases and the labor force participation among the elderly Chinese population aged more than 45 years. We employ a multivariate probit (MVP) model to construct five structural equations for an analysis. The advantage of this model is that it can deal with the endogeneity of chronic diseases. Firstly, compared with the elderly, younger people are more likely to participate in the labor force market; the influence of chronic diseases is the largest for presenile women in the decision-making of labor force participation; the impact of psychological problems on labor force participation cannot be ignored, especially for men aged more than 45 years. In addition, sociodemographic factors such as geographical location and marital status also have direct effects on the probability of labor force participation while the impact of both family wealth and family number is much smaller. Finally, unhealthy lifestyles through chronic diseases have negative and indirect marginal effects on labor force participation. This article proves that chronic diseases have a negative impact on the labor force participation for Chinese aged more than 45 years. The public should give more tolerance and opportunities to these groups. The population aged more than 45 years are more vulnerable and face more psychological problems, which will lead to a decline in labor force participation. Psychological health counseling and services are urgently needed. As the urban areas enjoy more social welfare, Chinese welfare policy needs to be tilted toward the rural elderly. For individuals, maintaining healthy lifestyles can help you stay away from chronic diseases and stay in the labor force market.
由于中国近几十年来的快速老龄化和生活方式的改变，慢性病的发病率急剧上升。45 岁以上的人口是劳动力市场的重要参与者，他们的健康状况直接影响他们的劳动力参与决策。本研究旨在探讨中国 45 岁以上老年人群体中慢性病与劳动力参与之间的关系。我们采用多元概率(probit)模型构建了五个结构方程进行分析。该模型的优势在于可以处理慢性病的内生性。首先，与老年人相比，年轻人更有可能参与劳动力市场；慢性病对参与劳动力市场决策的中年女性影响最大；心理问题对劳动力参与的影响不容忽视，尤其是 45 岁以上的男性。此外，地理位置和婚姻状况等社会人口因素对劳动力参与的概率也有直接影响，而家庭财富和家庭数量的影响则要小得多。最后，通过慢性病导致的不健康生活方式对劳动力参与有负向和间接的边际效应。本文证明了慢性病对中国 45 岁以上老年人群体的劳动力参与有负面影响。公众应该给予这些群体更多的包容和机会。45 岁以上的人口更加脆弱，面临更多的心理问题，这将导致劳动力参与率下降。心理健康咨询和服务迫在眉睫。随着城市地区享受更多的社会福利，中国的福利政策需要向农村老年人倾斜。对于个人来说，保持健康的生活方式可以帮助你远离慢性病，留在劳动力市场。
