IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecanpo/v89y2026icp681-689.html

Intergenerational upward economic support, social participation, and elderly health: An empirical test based on the china health and retirement longitudinal study (CHARLS)

Author

Listed:
  • Fang, Ziwei
  • Hu, Ming
  • Jiao, Zeyan
  • Zheng, Fengyi

Abstract

The family serves as a crucial support for the health of the elderly. Utilizing the four-wave panel data from 2011 to 2018 of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study and applying the two-way fixed effect model to empirically examine the relationship between intergenerational upward economic support and the health level of the elderly, the following findings are obtained: Firstly, intergenerational upward economic support significantly promotes the health level of the elderly. Secondly, even after using family size as an instrumental variable to alleviate endogeneity, this result remains significant. Thirdly, intergenerational upward economic support can enhance the health level of the elderly through facilitating their entertainment-oriented, development-oriented, and network-based social participation. Fourthly, the health effect of intergenerational upward economic support is more pronounced among female and rural elderly. These research findings offer a more comprehensive perspective for comprehending the protective function of the family.

Suggested Citation

  • Fang, Ziwei & Hu, Ming & Jiao, Zeyan & Zheng, Fengyi, 2026. "Intergenerational upward economic support, social participation, and elderly health: An empirical test based on the china health and retirement longitudinal study (CHARLS)," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 681-689.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecanpo:v:89:y:2026:i:c:p:681-689
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eap.2025.12.036
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S031359262500520X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.eap.2025.12.036?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ma, Hongxin & Yin, Yingkai & Liu, Zhenhai & Bai, Yi, 2024. "A study of the impact of digital finance usage on household consumption upgrading: Based on financial asset allocation perspective," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 96(PA).
    2. Yong Zhan & Xiaoyi Zhan & Min Wu, 2025. "From Financial Assistance to Emotional Care: The Impact of Intergenerational Support on the Subjective Well-Being of China’s Elderly," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 26(2), pages 1-28, February.
    3. Li, Guoying & Liu, Zhenhai & Liu, Tangsen & Chen, Li, 2024. "Twisted industrial structure, land financing mode and social security," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 69(PA).
    4. Zheng, Fengyi & Bai, Yi & Hu, Ming & Liou, Jennhae, 2025. "Fiscal decentralization and rural public services–a new structural economics perspective," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    5. Zhenhua Zheng & Ning Sun & Liu Yang & Wanting Liu & Yingchen Lu & Yusu Chu & Hong Chen, 2023. "The socioeconomic status of adult children, intergenerational support, and the well-being of Chinese older adults," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-12, December.
    6. Michael Grossman, 2022. "The demand for health turns 50: Reflections," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(9), pages 1807-1822, September.
    7. Zhang, Gaofei & Li, Jingyi & Ma, Jing & Liu, Zhenhai, 2024. "Pro-growth or limit-on: How environmental regulations affect residents' well-being," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 1509-1520.
    8. repec:plo:pone00:0012135 is not listed on IDEAS
    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. Deng, Xiangmei & Yan, Xinyi & Huang, Dan & Tao, Rui, 2026. "Social security, industrial structure distortion and household economic resilience," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    2. Yang, Shiyu & Qiu, Ye & Cai, Wanhuan & Wang, Dawei, 2025. "Digital financial inclusion, environmental governance and household economic resilience," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 85(PE).
    3. Fang, Ziwei & Peng, Yinghao & Zhang, Gaofei & Zheng, Fengyi, 2025. "Fiscal decentralization, catch-up strategy, and social security," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 86(PG).
    4. Yang, Gang & Yuan, Gongming & Kou, Junhao & Jiau, Shyhyan, 2025. "Impact of inclusive finance on private enterprise Lending: Evidence from China private enterprise survey," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    5. Cai, Dongsong & Long, Ling & Cai, Wanhuan & Wang, Xin, 2025. "Population aging, digital financial inclusion, development strategies and economic resilience," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    6. Cheng, Bo & Yan, Hanxi & Cai, Wanhuan & Wang, Xin, 2025. "Research on the impact of development strategies on energy consumption," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 1237-1250.
    7. Bai, Changyi & Guan, Wen & Wang, Dawei & Chen, Xiyi, 2024. "Digital village construction and the quality of life of rural residents," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 96(PC).
    8. Grossbard, Shoshana, 2025. "Spouses as home health workers, childcare workers and cooks: Insights for applied research," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    9. Chen, Wei & Li, Jiawei, 2025. "Digital finance, consumer convenience, and rural residents’ consumption," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    10. Xuanru Lyu & Wenhui Li & Huimin Zhang, 2025. "The impact of age-friendly home modifications on the well-being of older adults: empirical evidence from China," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(1), pages 1-13, December.
    11. Wang, Minglu & Zhao, Shuchen & Jing, Peng, 2026. "Do peer effects in stock market participation enhance household portfolio efficiency? Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    12. Zhang, Jian & Li, Ting & He, Yuhui & Li, Zhaohui, 2025. "Does land transfer-out facilitate an upgrade in farmers’ consumption," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 2219-2233.
    13. Zhao, Fan & Li, Ruirui & Wu, Ziyin & Ru, Xue, 2025. "Can the integration of digital and real economies stimulate residents' consumption?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    14. Zhang, Lina, 2025. "Energy use rights trading policy and energy consumption?," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 665-674.
    15. Piccoli, Luca & Tiezzi, Silvia, 2023. "Eggs When Young, Chicken When Old. Time Consistency and Addiction over the Life Cycle," IZA Discussion Papers 16372, IZA Network @ LISER.
    16. Yang, Gang & Yan, Hanxi & Zhang, Zhuxin & Cai, Wanhuan, 2025. "Social security contribution burden and firms' financial resource mismatch," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 85(PD).
    17. Liu, Hongjiao, 2025. "Artificial intelligence development and household financial asset allocation," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    18. Huo, Xiuzhen & Dong, Yuanyuan, 2025. "From market segmentation to consumption growth: How does digital-real integration strengthen the consumption stimulation effect in a unified national market?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    19. Tianyang Huang & Gang Wang & Chiwu Huang, 2024. "What promotes the mobile payment behavior of the elderly?," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-14, December.
    20. Olga N. Volkova & Aleksandra N. Volkova, 2024. "Empirical Testing of Grossman’s the Demand for Health Model: The Case of Russia," Journal of Applied Economic Research, Graduate School of Economics and Management, Ural Federal University, vol. 23(1), pages 33-58.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:eee:ecanpo:v:89:y:2026:i:c:p:681-689. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/economic-analysis-and-policy .

    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.