Oliveira Jaqueline, Kerr Amanda
Rhodes College, Memphis TN, USA.
University of Maryland, College Park MD, USA.
Res Sq. 2024 Jul 22:rs.3.rs-4646034. doi: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4646034/v1.
How do older individuals cope with health impairments and the potential economic losses that ensue? Exploiting longitudinal data on a nationally representative sample of Chinese seniors, we investigate whether and how familial economic support responds to sudden and sizable changes in health. We find that both financial and instrumental support from children go up following a health shock. Furthermore, financial transfers coming from siblings, other relatives and friends increase by a larger percentage than those from children. We also find evidence that instrumental care received from a spouse responds strongly to health shocks. Finally, we find that although labor supply and earned income drop considerably, there is no significant change in non-health expenditure. Our results suggest that households are able to cope with some of the adverse economic impacts of health shocks by relying on support networks that extend beyond their children and grand-children. This is particularly relevant in the context of shrinking family sizes resulting from stringent family planning policies.
老年人如何应对健康损害以及随之而来的潜在经济损失？利用来自具有全国代表性的中国老年人样本的纵向数据，我们研究了家庭经济支持是否以及如何应对健康方面突然且大幅的变化。我们发现，健康冲击后，子女提供的经济和实物支持都会增加。此外，来自兄弟姐妹、其他亲属和朋友的经济转移增加的百分比高于来自子女的。我们还发现有证据表明，配偶提供的实物照料对健康冲击反应强烈。最后，我们发现，尽管劳动力供给和劳动收入大幅下降，但非健康支出没有显著变化。我们的研究结果表明，家庭能够依靠子女和孙辈之外的支持网络来应对健康冲击带来的一些不利经济影响。在计划生育政策导致家庭规模缩小的背景下，这一点尤为重要。
