Effect of ambient air quality on subjective well-being among Chinese working adults

Abstract

In the context of rapid urbanization and climate change in China, it is especially important to understand the effects of air quality on the subjective well-being of working adults because of their prolonged exposure to air pollutants. This study examines the relationship between ambient air pollutant emission levels and the subjective well-being of working adults using multilevel regression models based on a multilevel matching dataset formulated from the 2016 China Labor-Force Dynamics Survey, the 2016 China City Statistical Yearbook, and the 3rd-Quarter 2016 air pollution index released by the China National Environmental Monitoring Centre. In particular, we examine whether these air pollutants affect subjective well-being and compare the results by age, population density, and regional settings in China. The results show that increased CO emissions compromise the happiness of working adults (β = −0.1574, p < 0.05 for happiness; β = −0.1759, p < 0.01 for life satisfaction). This negative effect is substantially ameliorated among older working adults (β = 0.0002), but is significantly stronger in medium-density (β = −0.2521 for happiness; β = −0.2451 for life satisfaction) and high-density cities (β = −0.3997 for happiness; β = −0.5736 for life satisfaction). In addition, CO emissions have less effect on life satisfaction for adult workers living in western China (β = −0.1051). The findings of this study have a strong potential to help policymakers improve the quality of life of residents through better-targeted approaches.