Research On Economic Independence Within Family,Realization Of Living Preference And Life Satisfaction Of Elderly In Rural China

China's aging population is becoming more and more serious,and the welfare of the elderly is widely concerned by academics and policymakers.In the past few decades,the tradition of rural elderly living with their adult children are gradually being broken,and the living arrangements and living preferences with adult children have shown a variety of trends.A large proportion of the elderly do not live in the best way they think,which may reduce their subjective welfare level.The economic independence of the elderly within family will affect their bargaining power in the actual living arrangements,and further affect the realization of their living preference..Based on the “China Health and Pension Tracking Survey” data in 2013,this article uses the logit model to examine the impact of economic independence within the family on the realization of preferred living arrangement of the elderly in the rural China,and the impact of realization of preferred living arrangement on life satisfaction of the rural elderly.The study found:(1)In China's rural area,there is a big difference between the elderly living arrangement and preferred living arrangement with mature children.Nearly 50% of the elderly did not realize their preferred living arrangements.In terms of living arrangements,the elderly's living arrangements are more diversified,the proportion of the elderly living with adult children,living with adult children in the same village,and living in different villages with adult children are 39%,35%,and 26%.In terms of living preferences,older people tend to live with adult children or live with adult children in the same village.However,the differences in the elderly's living arrangements and living preferences are significant,and a large proportion of elderly people's preference for living has not been realized.(2)The economic independence within family has a significant impact on the realization of the living preferences of the rural elderly.The probability of the elderly to achieve a livingl preference increases with the economic independence with family.Although the impact of pension ratio on the living preferences of the rural elderly is not significant,but the increase in the proportion of pensions can significantly improve the elderly to realize living with adult children.(3)Whether the actual living arrangement is consistent with the living preferences is an important factor affecting the life satisfaction of the elderly in rural China,and the actual living arrangement has no significant effect.Realizing preferred living arrangements can significantly increase the lifesatisfaction of the rural elderly.In addition,the degree of realization of preferred living arrangement has a significant influence on the life satisfaction of the elderly in rural China.The smaller the actual living arrangement deviates from the elderly,the higher the life satisfaction will the elderly have.Respecting the elderly's living preference and creating opportunity to promote the elderly to realize their preferred living arrangements or narrowing the gap between living arrangements and living preference can significantly improve the life satisfaction of rural elderly.Therefore,there are great significant in proving the elderly's life quality and level for raising the level of social security such as rural pensions in rural China which will reduce the economic dependence of the elderly on their children,increase their bargaining power,increase the probability of achieving living preferences,and maximize their living utility.