SOCIAL SUPPORT AND SUBJECTIVE WELL-BEING AMONG CHINESE OLDER ADULTS

Abstract

Using data from two waves of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) (N ≈ 5,500), we examined the relationship between types and sources of social support and subjective well-being (i.e., depressive symptoms and life satisfaction) among Chinese older adults aged 60 and above, with particular attention to the moderating role of three contextual factors (i.e., living arrangement concordance, education, occupation) in this relationship. This issue is timely and of particularly important policy implications given China has the largest aging population in the world and is currently undertaking to establish an elder-service infrastructure to suit the needs of the contemporary elders for years to come. Multivariate regression results indicate that older adults in general had significantly better subjective well-being when receiving both financial and instrumental support from children instead of from other sources. In addition, the significant positive associations between financial support from children and contact with non-resident children and older adults’ subjective well-being were more pronounced for those with less education and those who had an agricultural occupation or had no work experience. As well, the significant negative associations between financial and instrumental support from children and older adults’ depressive symptoms were more pronounced for those with living arrangement concordance. In contrast, older adults who had higher educational levels or had nonagricultural occupation had better subjective well-being if receiving instrumental support from sources other than spouse or children. Implications for the subjective well-being of the Chinese elderly population are discussed.