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Adult Children’s Education and Later-Life Health of Parents in China: The Intergenerational Effects of Human Capital Investment

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  • Nan Jiang

    (Columbia University)

Abstract

Recent research has shown that in high-income countries, investing in children’s education could be an effective strategy to improve parental health in older age. However, little is known about whether this pattern exists in China, a rapidly aging context with strong filial piety traditions and a weak public support system for older adults. Using longitudinal data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, we used Cox proportional hazards and multinomial logistic regression models to investigate changes in both mortality and subjective health (self-reported health) outcomes. We assessed the association separately by parental gender. Having college-educated children was associated with a 31% decline in the hazard of parental death (adj. HR 0.69, p

Suggested Citation

  • Nan Jiang, 2019. "Adult Children’s Education and Later-Life Health of Parents in China: The Intergenerational Effects of Human Capital Investment," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 145(1), pages 257-278, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:145:y:2019:i:1:d:10.1007_s11205-019-02109-9
    DOI: 10.1007/s11205-019-02109-9
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    2. Pei, Yaolin & Cong, Zhen & Wu, Bei, 2020. "Education, adult children's education, and depressive symptoms among older adults in rural China," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 253(C).

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