Employment quality and workers' health and well-being in China: longitudinal evidence from the China Family Panel Studies.

Abstract

Objectives: This study examined the relationship between employment quality and workers' health and well-being in China.

Methods: Data were drawn from the 2018, 2020, and 2022 waves of the China Family Panel Studies. We constructed an individual-level panel sample and measured employment quality using 4 dimensions: reward, job satisfaction, working-time quality, and social security. Individual fixed-effects models were used as the main estimation approach. Robustness checks were conducted using a balanced panel sample and an alternative employment quality index excluding the job satisfaction dimension.

Results: Higher employment quality was positively associated with better self-rated health, mental health, happiness, and confidence in the future. Among the 4 dimensions, job satisfaction showed the most consistent positive associations with all 4 outcomes, whereas reward and working-time quality were mainly associated with mental health. Social security did not show statistically significant associations in the fixed-effects models. In the robustness check excluding job satisfaction, the coefficients of the alternative employment quality index remained positive but became smaller and less statistically significant; only the association with mental health remained statistically significant.

Conclusions: Workers' health and well-being were related not only to employment status or income, but also to broader aspects of employment quality, including subjective work experience, working-time arrangements, and institutional protection. Employment quality and its different dimensions should receive greater attention in occupational health promotion and the evaluation of high-quality employment.