The Influence Of Living Arrangement On The Psychological Health Of The Urban Younger Elderly

The seventh population census shows that the current population of elderly people aged 60 and above in China has reached 264 million,becoming a significant group of the total population that cannot be ignored.Ensuring the mental health of the elderly is becoming increasingly important for themselves and the entire society.With the decline of the birth rate,social change,and the emergence of the trend of individualization,the traditional living arrangements of the elderly living with their children and grandchildren have changed dramatically.The living arrangements are becoming more diverse.The number of elderly living alone(or only with their spouses)is gradually increasing.Different living arrangements may have different effects on mental health.At present,young old people who have just entered the old age stage grow up together with New China.They have a profound imprint of social change in this generation,and their ideas,responsibilities and cognition are unique.The living arrangements of young old people may be more diverse,and their impact on mental health may also be more diverse.In the context of the transformation and increasing diversification of traditional residential arrangements,what are the characteristics of the current impact of residential arrangements on the mental health of young and elderly people? This is an important issue of concern in this study.The paper is based on a sampling survey data of 752 elderly people’s elderly care status conducted in five cities of Beijing,Nanjing,Zhengzhou,Foshan,and Mianyang in 2019.Starting from intergenerational relationship theory and role theory,univariate statistical analysis and regression analysis methods are used to explore the impact of residential arrangements on the psychological health of young elderly people.The main conclusions are as follows: 1.Residential arrangements for young and elderly people living with their spouses are more common;The traditional "three generations living together" living arrangement has the lowest positive effect on the mental health of young and elderly people;Having a spouse living together has a positive effect on the mental health of young and elderly people;4.Female elderly people are more susceptible to the impact of residential arrangements;5.Social elderly care support can protect the mental health of young and elderly people.Based on the above conclusions,the paper suggests that: 1.In terms of family policies,relevant policies should be introduced to enhance family development capabilities.Not only should we pay attention to the improvement of the marriage and family functions of the elderly themselves,but we should also pay attention to supporting their children’s families,that is,the younger generation’s families,to alleviate the pressure on their family development,and fundamentally reduce the situation where the elderly are forced to move to other places and work too hard,which affects their mental health;2.Improve the system of elderly accompanying migration;3.Continuously strengthen the construction of social elderly care support.We should develop various activities and space development suitable for the elderly based on their different living arrangements and gender differences.Future research can focus on in-depth research from the perspectives of children’s living distance and gender differences.