IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jhappi/v23y2022i3d10.1007_s10902-021-00430-0.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Living Arrangements and Subjective Well-being of the Elderly in China and Japan

Author

Listed:
  • Tsukasa Matsuura

    (Chuo University)

  • Xinxin Ma

    (Hosei University)

Abstract

This study investigates the influence of living alone on the elderly’s subjective well-being (SWB), using longitudinal survey data from China and Japan. The main findings are as follows. First, the influence of living alone on SWB is not statistically significant for elderly Chinese women, while elderly Japanese women who live alone are likely to feel significantly happier. Second, living alone does not affect SWB of elderly Chinese men, while it significantly negatively affects the SWB of elderly Japanese men. In addition, for elderly Japanese men, the negative effect of living alone disappears when marital status is controlled for in a fixed effects ordered logit model. Third, the random effects ordered logit model shows that the negative associations between living alone and SWB are stronger for elderly men than for elderly women both in China and Japan. This suggests that the effect of living alone differs by gender among the elderly in both countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Tsukasa Matsuura & Xinxin Ma, 2022. "Living Arrangements and Subjective Well-being of the Elderly in China and Japan," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 23(3), pages 903-948, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jhappi:v:23:y:2022:i:3:d:10.1007_s10902-021-00430-0
    DOI: 10.1007/s10902-021-00430-0
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10902-021-00430-0
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10902-021-00430-0?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 search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. James Raymo, 2015. "Living alone in Japan: Relationships with happiness and health," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 32(46), pages 1267-1298.
    2. Joseph Winchester Brown & Jersey Liang & Neal Krause & Hiroko Akiyama & Hidehiro Sugisawa & Taro Fukaya, 2002. "Transitions in Living Arrangements Among Elders in Japan," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 57(4), pages 209-220.
    3. Xiangdan Piao & Xinxin Ma & Chi Zhang & Shunsuke Managi, 2020. "Impact of Gaps in the Educational Levels between Married Partners on Health and a Sustainable Lifestyle: Evidence from 32 Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-20, June.
    4. Ken Yamada & Bussarawan Teerawichitchainan, 2015. "Living Arrangements and Psychological Well-Being of the Older Adults After the Economic Transition in Vietnam," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 70(6), pages 957-968.
    5. Thomas Hansen, 2012. "Parenthood and Happiness: a Review of Folk Theories Versus Empirical Evidence," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 108(1), pages 29-64, August.
    6. Xinxin Ma & Xiangdan Piao, 2019. "The Impact of Intra-household Bargaining Power on Happiness of Married Women: Evidence from Japan," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 20(6), pages 1775-1806, August.
    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. Angus Deaton & Arthur A. Stone, 2013. "Two Happiness Puzzles," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(3), pages 591-597, May.
      • Arthur A. Stone & Angus Deaton, 2013. "Two happiness puzzles," Working Papers 2013-3, Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Health and Wellbeing..
    2. Xiangdan Piao, 2023. "Intra-Household Income Management and Couple’s Relative Sharing of Income and Environment Sustainability in Japan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-17, April.
    3. Eiji Yamamura & Fumio Ohtake, 2023. "Family Structure, Gender and Subjective Well-being: Effect of Child ren before and after COVID 19 in Japan," Papers 2312.04411, arXiv.org.
    4. Anna Matysiak & Letizia Mencarini & Daniele Vignoli, 2016. "Work–Family Conflict Moderates the Relationship Between Childbearing and Subjective Well-Being," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 32(3), pages 355-379, August.
    5. Tatiana Karabchuk, 2016. "The subjective well-being of women in Europe: children, work and employment protection legislation," Mind & Society: Cognitive Studies in Economics and Social Sciences, Springer;Fondazione Rosselli, vol. 15(2), pages 219-245, November.
    6. Yoko Mimura, 2023. "Save Today for a Happier Tomorrow: Associations Between Happiness and Financial Preparation in Japan," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 1261-1281, March.
    7. Xiangdan Piao, 2021. "Marriage Stability and Private Versus Shared Expenditures Within Families: Evidence from Japanese Families," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 153(2), pages 533-559, January.
    8. Inessa Love & Boris Nikolaev & Chandra Dhakal, 2024. "The well-being of women entrepreneurs: the role of gender inequality and gender roles," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 62(1), pages 325-352, January.
    9. Laura Langner, 2022. "Desperate Housewives and Happy Working Mothers: Are Parent-Couples with Equal Income More Satisfied throughout Parenthood? A Dyadic Longitudinal Study," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 36(1), pages 80-100, February.
    10. Matthew Andersson & Jennifer Glass & Robin Simon, 2014. "Users Beware: Variable Effects of Parenthood on Happiness Within and Across International Datasets," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 115(3), pages 945-961, February.
    11. Yujin Kim & Hyeyoung Woo & Sinn Won Han, 2022. "Work and Family Pathways and Their Associations with Health for Young Women in Korea," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-17, November.
    12. Xiangdan Piao & Xinxin Ma & Tetsuya Tsurumi & Shunsuke Managi, 2022. "Social Capital, Negative Event, Life Satisfaction and Sustainable Community: Evidence from 37 Countries," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 17(3), pages 1311-1330, June.
    13. Hanna Liberska & Monika Deja, 2021. "Satisfaction with Life, Emotions, and Identity Processes in Polish First-Time Mothers and Fathers and Their Child’s Age," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(2), pages 1-15, January.
    14. Taiji Noguchi & Ippei Nojima & Tomoe Inoue-Hirakawa & Hideshi Sugiura, 2019. "The Association between Social Support Sources and Cognitive Function among Community-Dwelling Older Adults: A One-Year Prospective Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(21), pages 1-9, October.
    15. Janusz Czapiński, 2015. "Individual quality of life and lifestyle," Contemporary Economics, University of Economics and Human Sciences in Warsaw., vol. 9(4), December.
    16. Piper Liping Liu & Louis Leung, 2017. "Migrant Parenting and Mobile Phone Use: Building Quality Relationships between Chinese Migrant Workers and their Left-behind Children," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 12(4), pages 925-946, December.
    17. Björn Huss, 2021. "Well-Being Before and After Pregnancy Termination: The Consequences of Abortion and Miscarriage on Satisfaction With Various Domains of Life," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 22(6), pages 2803-2828, August.
    18. Jona Schellekens, 2019. "Does the association between children and happiness vary by level of religiosity? The evidence from Israel," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 41(5), pages 103-124.
    19. Momoko Nakahara & Daisuke Ekuni & Kota Kataoka & Aya Yokoi & Yoko Uchida-Fukuhara & Daiki Fukuhara & Terumasa Kobayashi & Naoki Toyama & Hikari Saho & Md Monirul Islam & Yoshiaki Iwasaki & Manabu Mori, 2021. "Living with Family Is Directly Associated with Regular Dental Checkup and Indirectly Associated with Gingival Status among Japanese University Students: A 3-Year Cohort Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(1), pages 1-10, January.
    20. Gimenez-Nadal, Jose Ignacio & Sevilla, Almudena, 2016. "Intensive Mothering and Well-being: The Role of Education and Child Care Activity," MPRA Paper 74249, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    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:spr:jhappi:v:23:y:2022:i:3:d:10.1007_s10902-021-00430-0. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.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.