The Influence Of Intergenerational Relationship On Subjective Well-being Of The Elderly In Rural Areas Basing On Panel Data

[Background]The old population of China was the biggest in the world, with eight million increasing every year. The pencentage of old people had reached to 15.4%, which was higher than the national average. The number of old people in rural areas was big as well. Because of the weak material foundation and the lower social welfare and security in rural aeras, how to make them enjoy a happy life was to be an important and urgent task. It required strengthening the family pension, improvingtheir intergenerational relationship andfacilitatingtheir mental health.Numerous studies had shown that subjective well-being was an important index of psychology, whichcould be used to evaluate the quality of life and the level of psychological health. Intergenerational relationshipwere important factors that could affect the subjective well-being of elderly people.Through the literature materials, we found that there were many researchs in urban community, more cross section data, and less panel data especially in the view of intergenerational support.[Objectives]The general objectives of this study were to measure the intergenerational relationship and subjective well-being of the elderly in rural areas, and to analyze the impact of intergenerational relationship on the subjective well-being. Thus we could provide some feasible policiesto improve the quality of life and subjective well-being of the rural elderly.[Data Source and Methods]The data of this study derived from the survey carried in two counties (Chiping and Caoxian) of Shandong province, which was founded by the National Natural Science Funds of China. A total of 362 people were investigated by stratified random sampling method according to the geographical distribution and level of economic development of the towns and villages. Single factor analysis and generalized estimating equations method were used for the data statistical analysis.[Main Results](1) Basic information:From the year 2006 to 2014, the per capitanet income of investigated households increased 6800 yuan; the proportion of living with his(her) children reduced 6 percent points; life assessment and life satisfaction were increased; the proportion of non-insomnia reduced 11 percent points; the proportion who felt perfect about his(her) health decreased about 9 percent points; in 2014, about 40% of the respondents had been caught in a pain,which were 10% more than that in 2006.(2) Intergenerational relationship:①Financial support increased:Father got morefinancial support than mother, the older people and those with more children got more financial support.②The emotional support for elderly parents got increased:the older people gotmore emotional support. The emotional supportincreased alongside the number of their children. Gender and cultural level had no effect on emotional support. ③Parents got higher levels of life care:the older, the more number of children got the more life care.④The total support from children increased; The older and the more number of children of respondents got the more total support of children.⑤Children got lower support from parents than before.Father’s support was higher than mother’s; the more children, the more support were supplied from parents.In 2006, the level of support from parents increased with the increasing of age, while it was not in 2014.(3) Subjective well-being and changes:①Subjective well-being level in 2014 was better than that in 2006.The recreation, personal activities, and something have to dobrought about lower well-being in turn, but they were all higher than before. ②The single factor analysis found that the lower self-reported health status, the lower level of subjective well-being; the more unpleasant mood happened, the lower subjective well-being; life care, total received support had statistically significant impact on subjective well-being.(4) The influence of intergenerational relationship on subjective well-being: Three aspects of intergenerational relationship (emotional support, life care and support from parents) had influence on subjective well-being.Mood support had a promoting effect on subjective well-being, the higher score of emotional support, the better subjective well-being; life care and support from parents had a negative effect on subjective well-being, the higher scores, the worse subjective well-being; the influence of economic support on subjective well-being was not obvious.(Conclusions and Recommendations]From the research results, we found a rising level in the children support, which including economic support, emotional support and life care. And the SWB level of most elderly parents was also at elevated. Self-related health status, unhappy mood state, age, emotional support, life care and the support from parents were all the influential factors of the subjective well-being among the elderly. Intergenerational relationship could affect subjective well-being:relatively small effects of financial support provided by children on SWB were found; emotional support could significantly promoted the subjective well-being of parents; life care and supports from parents not only cannot promote the subjective well-being of the elderly parents, but will reduce their subjective well-being. According to the results, we provide the following recommendations:Enhance the health status of the elderly and promote the healthy aging.Pay attention to the parents’ emotional care.Enrich the cultural recreational activities in rural areas and meet the demands of the age people for entertainment.