| The problem of aging has already become the focus of attention of our society.Especially in rural areas, where the elderly population is relatively large and the economic development is backward. The living condition of the elderly is the current research hot spot. The lack of social security, the loss of rural youth labor force, the miniaturization of the family and the lack of family support concept have posed a serious challenge to the rural elderly.The study of the living conditions of rural elderly mostly centered on the elderly economic sources,emotional support and health status before. Based on existing researches,we find that children are the important source of elderly support, which is closely related to the number, gender and quality of children First, only people with children can get support from their children. Second, because of the gender division of labor in society and family, the son and daughter play different roles in the daily lives of the elderly to meet different needs of them. Finally,-children of high quality become better economic providers for their parents,and can meet their expectations.However, there are still some controversies about the importance and interrelationships among children's number, sex and quality in the decision of rural elderly's life satisfaction,which lies in three aspects. Firstly, the "multi-child blessing" concept is weakening. Whether it means "the less children, the better", or there exists "the best" number of children? Secondly, what's the importance of son and daughter in rural elderly's life? Whether exists "threshold effect of the number of son" and the idea of “ the more son,the better"? Thirdly,in rural elderly's life satisfaction, whether exists alternative relationship between the number of children and the quality of children. To clarify the above three issues is of important theoretical and practical significance to the security of rural elderly's living condition.This paper explores the above three questions from the perspective of life satisfaction of the elderly aged above 60 years in rural areas of Wuzhishan of Hainan province. The study found that in view of children's number,it has a clear "threshold effect" for the life satisfaction of the elderly in rural areas. There is no absolute sense of "the more children, the more blessings", or "the less children, the more blessings".There exists optimal number of children. In terms of children's sex,there is still a significant gender preference for the elderly in rural areas, but there is no "threshold effect" of son's number. The elderly with both son and daughter are more satisfied.Lastly, there exists alternative relationships between children's quality and children's number,and the quality of children plays a more important role.Based on the research results,we put forward the following policy suggestions to improve the living guarantee of the rural elderly: First, establish and perfect nursing home for the elderly in rural areas. Provide daily care for the left-behind elderly and solitary elders in rural areas.Second, in view of the fact that children will continue to be the main source of support for rural elderly for a long time, it is proposed to raise the level of health care in rural areas, and to improve the survival rate of infants and young children so that the elderly will be able to acquire support source. Third,provide policy support for the construction of rural family, stabilize family relationship, especially the extended family relationship. Fourth, vigorously develop the rural economy, enhance the quality of population,improve family support ability for the elderly. |
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