The Impact Of Economic Conditions On The Old-Age Care For The Elderly In China

Since the reform and opening up,the economy of China has achieved rapid development,which is correlated with the demographic dividend effect brought by cheaper labor.With the change of the demographic structure,the demographic dividend effect has gradually disappeared and China has entered an aging population society.The high proportion of the elderly and the increasing old-age dependency ratio have brought heavy burdens on the society and the family.However,the construction of old-age security system is not optimistic now.There is a huge gap on the number of institutional pension beds and the number of nursing care workers.The problem of the old-age care is the responsibility of the elderly themselves,families,communities and the government.Under the background of the serious problem of the old-age care in our country,this paper studies the factors affecting the choice of the way of old-age care for the elderly from the perspective of economic conditions.It mainly answers the question of what kind of living arrangement elderly people choose and whom they depend on to care for them in different economic conditions.In terms of research background and significance,the paper has described the serious current condition of old-age care in China and concludes that this paper has the theoretical significance of improving the existing research system and the practical significance of guiding the family and the government to make a care plans for the elderly.In terms of research methods,using the data of China Longitudinal Aging Social survey in 2014,the paper chooses descriptive statistics and multiple Logit regression models to do the empirical research and gets significant results.The paper also defines economic conditions and old-age care for the elderly in terms of economics.Combining with the actual situation of the database,the paper innovatively divides the economic conditions into three dimensions:income source,income,and wealth reserve.The old-age care system is divided into two dimensions:living arrangements and care arrangements.In terms of literature review,the article sorts out the factors affecting the choice of the old-age care system from the aspects of individual characteristics of the elderly,family factors,economic factors,and social factors.The article constructs an econometric model and selects relevant variables for empirical research.Based on the econometric model,in terms of research hypotheses,the article analyzes the multi-participating subjects of elderly care for the elderly.Referring to related research literature,through logical analysis and theoretical derivation,the article proposes three assumptions that economic conditions affect the choice of old-age care for the elderly from three dimensions of the economic conditions.Finally,the paper concludes that most of the elderly in China still live in their homes and prefer their families to care for them.The elderly funded by relatives tend to live in their children's homes.The elderly who rely on government subsidies tend to be cared by government.The higher income level the elderly gain,the higher probability that they live in the institution and choose the way of common care by government,children,and themselves.The lower income level the elderly gain,the higher probability that they live in their children's homes.The impact of the wealth reserve on the way of the old-age care for the elderly is similar to their income.At the same time,the impact of economic conditions on the old-age care is different between man and women,urban and rural areas.The income has a remarkable impact on the choice of old-age care for women,while the wealth reserve for man.Compared with the urban areas,the factors affecting the choice for the elderly in rural areas are more complex.