Research On The Influence Of Economic Conditions On The Living Arrangement Of The Oldest-old

In recent years,the aging of China’s population has become more and more serious.At the same time,with the improvement of social living conditions and the continuous improvement of medical technology,the average life expectancy of the elderly has been continuously extended,and the aging of the elderly population has become increasingly prominent.As the vulnerable group in the elderly population,how to realize active aging,meet the needs of the oldest-old,so that they enjoy a happy old age,is the top priority of the aging work in the new era.At the same time,with the social development and changes in family structure,the living arrangement,as an important way to obtain pension resources for the oldest-old,has undergone profound changes,which will certainly affect the degree of satisfaction of their pension needs.Therefore,it is of great significance to study the living arrangement of the oldest-old to understand their pension dilemma,provide targeted pension services,and meet their daily care needs more effectively.Just as economic factors play a decisive role in many fields,the economic base plays a crucial role in the degree to which the needs of the oldest-old such as medical maintenance and daily care are met.Under the background of prominent pension problems at present,this paper,from an economic perspective,attempts to analyze the economic motivations of the oldest-old living arrangements,explore the similarities and differences of the oldest-old living arrangements under different economic backgrounds,and then put forward targeted suggestions,in order to truly realize the elderly have some support and enjoy their old age.Based on the data of the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey(CLHLS)in 2011,2014 and 2018,and on the basis of literature research and relevant theories,the living arrangement of the oldest-old was defined as living alone or only with spouse,living with children and institutional living as explained variables.The two dimensions of economic independence and economic status were selected as the core explanatory variables.In view of the important influence of the number of living children of the oldest-old on their living arrangements,it is used as a moderating variable.In addition,variables reflecting the demographic and sociological characteristics of the oldest-old were selected as control variables.Then,descriptive analysis of variables was carried out,and mlogit model was used to empirically analyze the influence of economic conditions on the living arrangements of the oldest-old,and the moderating effect of the number of living children between economic status and the living arrangements of the oldest-old was investigated.It then explores whether these effects differ in urban and rural areas,marital status and self-care ability.Finally,the paper analyzes the influence mechanism of economic status on the living arrangement of the oldest-old.The empirical results show that: from the aspect of economic independence,economic independence will promote the oldest-old to choose independent living,but with the increase of the number of children,the probability of economically independent oldest-old living with their children increases.From the perspective of economic status,the improvement of economic status will improve the possibility of living with children,and with the increase of the number of children,the higher the economic status of the oldest-old are more likely to choose to live in institutions.At the same time,the influence of economic status on the living arrangement of the oldest-old is heterogeneous in urban and rural areas,marital status and self-care ability.In urban and rural areas,different from cities and towns,the higher the economic status of the oldest-old in rural areas,the greater the probability of living in institutions,and the number of children plays a significant positive regulating role.In terms of marital status,for the oldest-old with spouses,the number of children has no significant regulating effect on their independent living,while for the oldest-old without spouses,the number of children has a significant regulating effect.In terms of self-care ability,for the oldest-old with poor self-care ability,economic status no longer has a significant impact on their living arrangements.The mechanism analysis results show that the oldest-old can exchange their economic resources for their children’s support,so as to increase the possibility of living with their children.Finally,combining the theoretical analysis and empirical results,this paper puts forward some suggestions on strengthening the construction of middle and high-end nursing institutions,developing community home nursing services and promoting the construction of rural nursing institutions in order to respect the residence wishes of the oldest-old and improve their quality of life.