School of Public Affairs, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310000, China.
College of Education, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310000, China.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Mar 26;19(7):3949. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19073949.
Research Purpose: This study aimed to explore the effect of China’s New Rural Pension (NRP) on the physical and mental health of rural children from the perspective of intergenerational care, and to examine whether family childcare types and the child’s gender affect the relationships between social pensions and the physical and mental health of rural children. Methods: We used data from the 2016 China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) of the China Social Science Survey Center, a nationally representative sample at the individual, family, and county levels from 25 provinces (cities and districts) in China. A total of 2142 sets of valid samples of children, the elderly, family economic and social conditions, and basic family information were retained after data screening. The regression discontinuity (RD) method was employed for the statistical analyses. Results: The NRP had a significant effect on both the mental health (β = −2.818, p < 0.1) and physical health (β = −2.214, p < 0.1) of rural children. This effect varied with the family childcare type and child’s gender. Conclusions: We reveal a positive effect of the NRP on the physical and mental health of rural children. Therefore, the establishment of a social pension system may be used as an effective approach to enhance the health of rural children. The impact of the NRP on the physical and mental health of children differs with the family childcare type and their gender, which should be taken into consideration when using social pensions to enhance child health.
本研究旨在从代际照料的角度探讨中国新型农村社会养老保险（NRP）对农村儿童身心健康的影响，并检验家庭照料类型和儿童性别是否影响社会养老金与农村儿童身心健康之间的关系。方法：我们使用了中国社会科学调查中心 2016 年中国家庭追踪调查（CFPS）的数据，该数据是来自中国 25 个省（市、区）的个体、家庭和县级层面的全国代表性样本。经过数据筛选，保留了 2142 组有效样本，包括儿童、老年人、家庭经济和社会状况以及基本家庭信息。采用回归不连续性（RD）方法进行统计分析。结果：NRP 对农村儿童的心理健康（β=−2.818，p<0.1）和身体健康（β=−2.214，p<0.1）均有显著影响。这种影响因家庭照料类型和儿童性别而异。结论：我们揭示了 NRP 对农村儿童身心健康的积极影响。因此，建立社会养老金制度可能是增强农村儿童健康的有效途径。NRP 对儿童身心健康的影响因家庭照料类型和儿童性别而异，在利用社会养老金来增强儿童健康时应考虑到这一点。
