The effect of family size on intergenerational support for elderly parents and their life expectancy: Evidence from China’s “Later, Longer, Fewer” campaign

IF 5.5 1区经济学 Q1 ECONOMICS

中国经济评论 Pub Date : 2025-08-13 DOI:10.1016/j.chieco.2025.102528

Cynthia Bansak , Eva Dziadula , Sophie Xuefei Wang

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Abstract

This study documents increased life expectancy among elderly parents in China whose adult children were exposed to the “Later, Longer, Fewer” (LLF) family planning campaign in the 1970s. We leverage the variation in policy exposure at the province, urban, and birth-cohort level to understand the extent to which the LLF campaign has affected social networks and intergenerational support for elderly parents. The plausible channels that may impact life expectancy are living arrangements, visits, and financial transfers. Using the 2011 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, we identify adults of childbearing age who were exposed to the LLF campaign and whose fertility was reduced. We find that greater LLF exposure increases the likelihood of the wife’s parents co-residing in her household. The increase in elderly support, however, is largely manifested through more visits and financial transfers from their sons’ families, which is unsurprising in a patrilineal society. Most gains are driven by rural households.

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家庭规模对老年父母代际赡养及其预期寿命的影响：来自中国“晚、长、少”运动的证据

本研究记录了20世纪70年代中国实行“晚、长、少”（LLF）计划生育运动后，中国老年父母的预期寿命增加。我们利用省、城市和出生队列水平的政策暴露变化来了解LLF运动对社会网络和对老年父母的代际支持的影响程度。可能影响预期寿命的合理渠道是生活安排、访问和财政转移。利用2011年中国健康与退休纵向研究，我们确定了暴露于LLF运动的育龄成年人，其生育能力降低。我们发现，更大的LLF暴露增加了妻子的父母共同居住在她的家庭的可能性。然而，老年人赡养的增加主要体现在更多的探望和儿子家庭的经济转移上，这在父系社会中并不奇怪。大部分收益是由农村家庭推动的。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

中国经济评论 ECONOMICS-

CiteScore

10.60

自引率

4.40%

发文量

380

期刊介绍： The China Economic Review publishes original works of scholarship which add to the knowledge of the economy of China and to economies as a discipline. We seek, in particular, papers dealing with policy, performance and institutional change. Empirical papers normally use a formal model, a data set, and standard statistical techniques. Submissions are subjected to double-blind peer review.