IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i15p9443-d877956.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How Can the Modern Chinese Family Retirement Function Be Separated and Sustainable?

Author

Listed:
  • Jiayun Liu

    (Research Institute for Population Science, School of Public Administration, Hohai University, Nanjing 211100, China)

  • Jianyuan Huang

    (Research Institute for Population Science, School of Public Administration, Hohai University, Nanjing 211100, China)

  • Huimin Li

    (Research Institute for Population Science, School of Public Administration, Hohai University, Nanjing 211100, China
    School of Marxism, Taishan University, Tai’an 271021, China)

Abstract

In the context of hybrid changes taking place in population and family structures, it is widely perceived that the function of the family as a place where older people retire has weakened. Family support has lost its vitality and has been replaced by public support. However, since the elderly are inseparably connected to their family, it is relevant to rethink and analyze how modern families’ pension functions can be sustainable. Based on structural functionalism and the family modernization theory, we construct an analytical framework to understand how the family ageing function operates separately. Fieldwork was carried out in Nantong, a place where the population has drastically aged. We documented different types of households to explain the changes and differences in modern family ageing. The results show that it is not simply a general weakening, but that a differentiated development pattern has separated the family functions and that there is a functional alternative path to compensate for sustainable development. That is, the economic function is strengthened and compensates for the weakened service function. Based on our research, we argue that families and the government should share the responsibility of meeting the diversified and specialized needs of older people in families where economic functions have strengthened and service functions have weakened. In families where both sets of functions have weakened, the government needs to overtake those functions. Today, family retirement function has been revitalized and redeveloped.

Suggested Citation

  • Jiayun Liu & Jianyuan Huang & Huimin Li, 2022. "How Can the Modern Chinese Family Retirement Function Be Separated and Sustainable?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-19, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:15:p:9443-:d:877956
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/15/9443/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/15/9443/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Becker, Gary S, 1974. "A Theory of Social Interactions," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 82(6), pages 1063-1093, Nov.-Dec..
    2. García-Gómez, Pilar & Jones, Andrew M. & Rice, Nigel, 2010. "Health effects on labour market exits and entries," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 62-76, January.
    3. Islam, Asadul & Maitra, Pushkar, 2012. "Health shocks and consumption smoothing in rural households: Does microcredit have a role to play?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(2), pages 232-243.
    4. van Bilsen, P.M.A. & Hamers, J.P.H. & Groot, W. & Spreeuwenberg, C., 2008. "The use of community-based social services by elderly people at risk of institutionalization: An evaluation," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 87(3), pages 285-295, September.
    5. Lloyd-Sherlock, Peter, 2000. "Population ageing in developed and developing regions: implications for health policy," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 51(6), pages 887-895, September.
    6. Lingguo Cheng & Hong Liu & Ye Zhang & Zhong Zhao, 2018. "The heterogeneous impact of pension income on elderly living arrangements: evidence from China’s new rural pension scheme," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 31(1), pages 155-192, January.
    7. Eugenio Zucchelli & Andrew M. Jones & Nigel Rice & Anthony Harris, 2010. "The Effects of Health Shocks on labour Market Exits: Evidence from the HILDA Survey," Australian Journal of Labour Economics (AJLE), Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), Curtin Business School, vol. 13(2), pages 191-218.
    8. Ostrom, Vincent & Tiebout, Charles M. & Warren, Robert, 1961. "The Organization of Government in Metropolitan Areas: A Theoretical Inquiry," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 55(4), pages 831-842, December.
    9. Sha Cao & Dingde Xu & Yi Liu & Shaoquan Liu, 2019. "The Impact of Rural Labor Migration on Elderly Health from the Perspective of Gender Structure: A Case Study in Western China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(20), pages 1-18, October.
    10. Zhan, Peng & Ma, Xinxin & Li, Shi, 2021. "Migration, population aging, and income inequality in China," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    11. Katerina Lisenkova & Kateryna Bornukova, 2017. "Effects of population ageing on the pension system in Belarus," Baltic Journal of Economics, Baltic International Centre for Economic Policy Studies, vol. 17(2), pages 103-118.
    12. Lei, Xiaoyan & Giles, John & Hu, Yuqing & Park, Albert & Strauss, John & Zhao, Yaohui, 2012. "Patterns and correlates of intergenerational non-time transfers : evidence from CHARLS," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6076, The World Bank.
    13. Cunwei Yang & Weiqing Wang & Fengying Li & Degang Yang, 2022. "A Sustainable, Interactive Elderly Healthcare System for Nursing Homes: An Interdisciplinary Design," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-21, April.
    14. James W. Vaupel, 2010. "Biodemography of human ageing," Nature, Nature, vol. 464(7288), pages 536-542, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Chatterji, Pinka & Joo, Heesoo & Lahiri, Kajal, 2017. "Diabetes and labor market exits: Evidence from the Health & Retirement Study (HRS)," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 9(C), pages 100-110.
    2. Ekaterina Aleksandrova & Venera Bagranova & Christopher J Gerry, 2021. "The effect of health shocks on labour market outcomes in Russia [Ageing and unused capacity in Europe: is there an early retirement trap?]," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 45(6), pages 1319-1336.
    3. Maik T. Schneider & Ralph Winkler, 2021. "Growth and Welfare under Endogenous Lifetimes," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 123(4), pages 1339-1384, October.
    4. Asad Islam & Jaai Parasnis, 2022. "Heterogeneous effects of health shocks in developed countries: Evidence from Australia," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 89(2), pages 471-495, October.
    5. Jones, M.A. & Rice, N. & Zantomio, F., 2016. "Acute health shocks and labour market outcomes," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 16/04, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.
    6. Lixin Cai & Kostas Mavromaras & Umut Oguzoglu, 2014. "The Effects Of Health Status And Health Shocks On Hours Worked," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 23(5), pages 516-528, May.
    7. Xing Ji & Jingwen Xu & Hongxiao Zhang, 2022. "How Does China’s New Rural Pension Scheme Affect Agricultural Production?," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-23, July.
    8. Harris, M.N. & Zhao, X. & Zucchelli, E., 2016. "The dynamics of health and labour market transitions at older ages: evidence from a multi-state model," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 16/30, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.
    9. Jones, Andrew M. & Rice, Nigel & Zantomio, Francesca, 2020. "Acute health shocks and labour market outcomes: Evidence from the post crash era," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 36(C).
    10. Sahlgren, Gabriel H., 2012. "Work ‘til You Drop: Short- and Longer-Term Health Effects of Retirement in Europe," Working Paper Series 928, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    11. Verikios, George & Dixon, Peter B. & Rimmer, Maureen T. & Harris, Anthony H., 2015. "Improving health in an advanced economy: An economywide analysis for Australia," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 250-261.
    12. Belloni, Michele & Simonetti, Irene & Zantomio, Francesca, 2019. "Long-run effects of health shocks in a highly regulated labour market," Department of Economics and Statistics Cognetti de Martiis. Working Papers 201922, University of Turin.
    13. Zucchelli, E. & Harris, M. & Zhao, X., 2012. "Ill-health and transitions to part-time work and self-employment among older workers," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 12/04, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.
    14. Trevisan, Elisabetta & Zantomio, Francesca, 2016. "The impact of acute health shocks on the labour supply of older workers: Evidence from sixteen European countries," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 171-185.
    15. Zhaohua Zhang & Yuxi Luo & Derrick Robinson, 2020. "Do Social Pensions Help People Living on the Edge? Assessing Determinants of Vulnerability to Food Poverty Among the Rural Elderly," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 32(1), pages 198-219, January.
    16. Simonetti, Irene & Belloni, Michele & Farina, Elena & Zantomio, Francesca, 2022. "Labour market institutions and long term adjustments to health shocks: Evidence from Italian administrative records," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    17. Paul Owusu Takyi & Roberto Leon-Gonzalez, 2022. "Effect of a health shock on working hours and health care usage: the role of financial inclusion in Ghana," International Journal of Economic Policy Studies, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 113-134, February.
    18. Ting Yin & Junchao Zhang, 2022. "More Schooling, More Generous? Estimating the Effect of Education on Intergenerational Transfers†," Asian Economic Journal, East Asian Economic Association, vol. 36(1), pages 22-46, March.
    19. Mark Fransham & Ruth Patrick & Aaron Reeves & Kitty Stewart, 2020. "Did the introduction of the benefit cap in Britain harm mental health? A natural experiment approach," CASE Papers /221, Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion, LSE.
    20. Mengyuan Zhou, 2022. "Does the Source of Inheritance Matter in Bequest Attitudes? Evidence from Japan," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 43(4), pages 867-887, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:15:p:9443-:d:877956. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.