Study on the effect of rural seniors’ labor force participation on health and health investment

The purpose of this study is to theoretically and empirically analyze the effect of labor force participation of rural seniors on their health and health investment. The study suggests the health investment model of old people based on the Grossman model and investigates the correlation between their labor force and health variables by using the Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing (KLoSA) and panel data analysis model. The empirical results show that health improves when the elderly live in rural areas or participate in the labor force. However, if the seniors living in rural areas participate in the labor force, the health improvement effect was offset. Further, if the rural seniors work, they are more likely to use medical services, but less likely to attend health activity programs than those who do not work. The lack of leisure time for working rural seniors can reduce the size of health investment and worsen the health gap between rural and urban elderly. The policy authorities need to make an effort to ensure health investment opportunities for the elderly in rural areas.