Liu Gai
School of Marxism, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, Jiangsu, China.
Front Public Health. 2025 Apr 25;13:1547027. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1547027. eCollection 2025.
This study aims to examine the impact of social welfare expenditure on household economic equality, as well as the moderating effect of healthcare expenditure on this relationship. Additionally, the study seeks to propose policy recommendations to address universal health issues and enhance the overall level of national welfare.
Utilizing the CFPS database, this study employs a two-way fixed effects model, along with moderating effect models, to investigate the impacts of social welfare expenditure, household healthcare expenditures, family education expenditures, and household housing expenditures on the advancement of household economic equality.
This study found that for every 1% increase in social welfare expenditure, family economic equality can be improved by 0.033. However, the study also revealed a decrease of 0.069 in the employment quality of the head of the household, indicating that social welfare expenditure negatively impacts this employment quality. Additionally, the moderating effect analysis demonstrated a significantly negative interaction between healthcare expenditure and social welfare expenditure, suggesting that family healthcare expenditure diminishes the positive effect of social welfare expenditure on the advancement of family economic equality.
The government should optimize and expand the level and efficiency of social welfare expenditure. For instance, the government could implement a 'universal free medical care' policy. Specific measures may include waiving medical insurance premiums, ensuring full reimbursement, and adopting a 'treatment first, settlement later' system. These initiatives will effectively alleviate the economic burden of health-related issues on families and promote equitable development of family economies. Furthermore, the government should also enhance policies related to employment quality. Such measures will contribute to optimizing the level and efficiency of social welfare expenditure, fostering economic equality, and narrowing the gap between the rich and the poor.
本研究旨在考察社会福利支出对家庭经济平等的影响，以及医疗保健支出对这种关系的调节作用。此外，该研究旨在提出政策建议，以解决全民健康问题并提高国家福利的整体水平。
本研究利用中国家庭追踪调查（CFPS）数据库，采用双向固定效应模型以及调节效应模型，来研究社会福利支出、家庭医疗保健支出、家庭教育支出和家庭住房支出对家庭经济平等进步的影响。
本研究发现，社会福利支出每增加1%，家庭经济平等可提高0.033。然而，该研究还显示，户主的就业质量下降了0.069，这表明社会福利支出对这种就业质量有负面影响。此外，调节效应分析表明，医疗保健支出与社会福利支出之间存在显著的负向交互作用，这表明家庭医疗保健支出会削弱社会福利支出对家庭经济平等进步的积极影响。
政府应优化并扩大社会福利支出的水平和效率。例如，政府可以实施“全民免费医疗”政策。具体措施可能包括免除医疗保险费、确保全额报销以及采用“先治疗，后结算”制度。这些举措将有效减轻家庭与健康相关问题的经济负担，并促进家庭经济的公平发展。此外，政府还应加强与就业质量相关的政策。这些措施将有助于优化社会福利支出的水平和效率，促进经济平等，并缩小贫富差距。
