The association between perceived residential environment, social interaction and subjective well‐being of China's elderly migrants

Abstract

AbstractWith the rapid growth in both urbanization and the ageing of the population, elderly migrants have become a more prominent group in urban China. Previous studies have shown that elderly migrants are a vulnerable group in terms of subjective well‐being (SWB) and studies have emphasized the role of their socioeconomic status (SES) and family‐related attributes (FRA) on their SWB. However, there is less attention on whether the perceived residential environment (PRE) to which elderly migrants are exposed and their social interactions have some effect on their SWB. To fill this research gap, street view images and questionnaire survey data from Guangzhou, China were collected. The association between PRE, social interactions, and elderly migrants' SWB was examined within a comprehensive framework using structural equation models. The results indicated that elderly people who had migrated within China had lower levels of SWB than Guangzhou‐born elderly adults. Social interactions mediated the effects of SES, FRA, and perceived environment on the SWB of elderly migrants. After controlling for SES and FRA, a livelier and safer PRE was directly positively associated with elderly migrants' SWB (coefficient = 0.181 at the 1% level) and indirectly associated with elderly migrants' SWB through social interactions with local friends (coefficient = 0.035 at the 1% level) and with neighbours (coefficient = 0.014 at the 5% level). These results suggest that increased social interactions and the creation of a better PRE would benefit elderly migrants' SWB in the context of active ageing.