Chinese General Social Survey Research Articles

Factors associated with the enrollment of commercial medical insurance in China: Results from China General Social Survey.

The Chinese government has been promoting commercial medical insurance (CMI) in recent decades as it plays an increasingly important role in addressing disease burden, health inequities, and other healthcare challenges. However, compared with developed countries, the CMI is still less fledged with low coverage. This study aims to explore the factors associated with enrollment in CMI, with regards to explicit characteristics (including sociodemographic characteristics and family economic status), latent characteristics (including social security status), and the global incentive compatibility index (including health status), to inform the design of CMI to improve its coverage in China. Based on the principal-agent model, we summarized and classified the factors associated with the enrollment in CMI, and then analyzed the data generated from the Chinese General Social Survey in 2015,2018 and 2021 respectively. A comparison of factors regarding sociodemographic characteristics, family economic status, social security status, and health status was conducted between individuals enrolled and unenrolled in CMI using Mann-Whitney U test and Chi-square test. Binary logistic regression analysis was used to explore factors influencing the enrollment status of CMI. Of all individuals, the proportion of enrolled individuals shows an increasing trend year by year, with 8.7%,11.8% and 14.1% enrolled in CMI in 2015,2018 and 2021, respectively. The binary regression analysis further suggested that the factors associated with the enrollment in CMI were consistent in 2015,2018 and 2021.We found that individuals divorced, obese, who had a higher level of education, had non-agricultural household registration, perceived themselves as the upper social status, conducted daily exercise, had more family houses, had a car, had investment activities, or did not have basic health insurance were more likely to be enrolled in CMI. We identified multidimensional factors associated with the enrollment of CMI, which help inform the government and insurance industry to improve the coverage of CMI.

Public attitudes toward COVID-19 prevention and control in China.

Based on the data of the Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS) in 2021, this study aims to investigate the public attitudes toward COVID-19 prevention and control in China. The household survey CGSS 2021 contains 8,148 valid samples gathered from 320 communities across 19 provinces in China. The logistic regression model is adopted to examine the relationship between public attitudes and influencing factors. The results show that the vast majority of respondents firmly believe that the government has the authority to implement strict measures; their confidence in the government and in the healthcare system has increased; and they willingly choose to be vaccinated. The regression results suggest that gender, age, health condition, political affiliation, source of information, sense of fairness, socio-economic status, and place of residence are significantly associated with individuals' attitudes toward COVID-19 prevention and control. These findings highlight the importance for the government to design epidemic or pandemic policies based on data and to tailor them toward specific demographics.

Enhancing vaccination uptake through community engagement: evidence from China

With growing recognition of the importance of community engagement in addressing public health challenges, its role in promoting healthy behaviors and preventing infectious diseases has gained attention. However, vaccination coverage remains a significant concern in many developing countries. While previous studies have linked community engagement to positive health outcomes, there is a gap in understanding its influence on individual vaccination choices, particularly in the context of developing countries. Utilizing data from the 2021 Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS), this study examines the impact of community engagement on COVID-19 and flu vaccination uptake among 7281 individuals. Community engagement, measured by community vaccination notifications, serves as the key independent variable. The study employs Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression and Propensity Score Matching (PSM) methods to analyze the relationship between community engagement and vaccination behavior. The analysis reveals a positive association between community engagement and vaccination rates. Specifically, individuals receiving notifications were more likely to get the COVID-19 vaccine compared to non-recipients (vaccination rates: 100% vs. 53.3%), and flu vaccination rates were also significantly higher among those notified (2.7% vs. 1.9%). Mechanism analysis suggests that individuals receiving community notifications are more aware of the benefits of vaccination, leading to higher vaccination rates among this group. This study underscores the effectiveness of community engagement strategies in promoting positive vaccination behavior among individuals in China. By enhancing awareness and trust in immunization, community engagement initiatives play a crucial role in shaping health behaviors and improving vaccination uptake. These findings emphasize the importance of integrating community engagement approaches into public health interventions to address vaccination challenges.

Making policies more effective: The differentiated impact of work-family conflict on environmental public participation

With the accelerated pace of society, work pressures and life matters deplete the public’s time, energy, and emotional resources, consequently impacting their engagement in environmental public activities. This study utilizes the data from the China Social Survey 2019 and the Chinese General Social Survey 2021 to explore the effect of work-family conflict on two types of environmental public participation (daily participation and resistance participation). The findings include: (1) Work-family conflict negatively affects daily participation and positively affects resistance participation. (2) Environmental concern strengthens the negative effect of work-family conflict on daily participation. (3) Government environmental work satisfaction strengthens the positive effect of work-family conflict on resistance participation. The current study provides clarity on the relationship between work-family conflict and environmental public participation. The authors also propose targeted policy recommendations to mitigate work-family conflict in the public sphere and promote effective environmental public participation.

Income, aging, and the gendered patterns of wellness: Physical health and subjective well-being in China

This article investigates the impact of demographic and socioeconomic inequalities on wellness, composed of both physical health and subjective well-being. We examine how gender inequality moderates the joint effects of aging and income on wellness in China. Utilizing generalized linear mixed model (GLMM), we analyze data from the Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS) spanning from 2003 to 2021. Our results reveal that income inequality disproportionately affects physical health among older, underweight, lower-class females; males are more susceptible to negative impacts on subjective well-being, particularly among lower-class, middle-aged males. These gendered patterns are situated in the contemporary Chinese society and are explained in relation to intra-household distributional inequality and the gender role expectations in the Confucian culture. We also discussed the policy implications of how to reduce the gaps in wellness across social classes, age cohorts, and genders.

The causes of income inequality in urban China: A household assets perspective

Despite income inequality in China being a heated topic in scholarship and public discussion, little research has explored the trend in income inequality since the mid-2010s or focused on the implications of household assets on income inequality. Using pooled cross-sectional data from the Chinese General Social Survey, we estimate income inequality at the household level from 2012 to 2021 and further examine the effects of two types of household assets (housing assets (HA) and financial assets (FA)) on income inequality in urban China, as well as the moderating effects of socioeconomic status (SES) and regional marketization. The results indicate that national income inequality was sustained at a high level between 2012 and 2021, while income inequality in urban households was higher than that in rural households. Both HA and FA were positively related to income inequality, and the latter assets had a stronger effect on income inequality. The association between the two types of household assets and income inequality strengthened along with an increase in family SES and regional marketization levels. The study highlights that FA, relative to HA, are a more important contributor to income inequality among urban households, thus extending the literature on inequality and social stratification in contemporary China by revealing the causes underlying rising income inequality from the household assets perspective.

The same sky, different urban and rural environmental treatment: analysis based on Chinese general social survey data

The same sky, different urban and rural environmental treatment: analysis based on Chinese general social survey data

The influence of an urban hukou and its acquisition methods on older adults’ happiness: an analysis based on the Chinese General Social Survey

AbstractThe hukou system is a population management policy in China. However, existing research has paid little attention to the relationships between Chinese urban hukou, its acquisition methods, and older adults’ happiness. This study was based on 10,954 samples from the Chinese General Social Survey in 2013, 2015, and 2017. An ordinary least squares model was used to analyze the influence and differential influence of an urban hukou and its access paths on happiness among older adults. Compared with having a rural hukou, having an urban hukou is correlated with higher levels of happiness in older adults. Moreover, those who had actively converted to an urban hukou or were born with it were happier, while passive conversion to an urban hukou was not significantly correlated with happiness. Additionally, actively converting to an urban hukou and being born with urban hukou influence the happiness of older adults by affecting their class identity and income. To improve older adults’ happiness, it is necessary to narrow the welfare gap between an urban and rural hukou, balance the allocation of public resources in urban and rural areas, and make targeted assessments to solve the difficulties of older adults who passively convert to an urban hukou.

Does birthplace affect intergenerational social mobility of migrants in urban escalators? Evidence from China

AbstractThere is a growing body of literature on the effects of escalator regions on intergenerational social mobility (ISM) of migrants. Nevertheless, the role of migrant origins in migration outcomes remain neglected. To address this gap, this study attempts to investigate whether migrants' birthplaces continue to have an impact after they move to escalator regions and the mechanism of this impact. Using data from the 2010, 2013, and 2015 Chinese General Social Survey, our findings suggest that the effect of escalator regions on migrants' ISM varies according to the size of their birthplace. Furthermore, the birthplace effect on migrants' ISM when relocating to escalator regions is partially mediated by the birthplace effect on education. Finally, it was found that this birthplace effect varies according to dynamic human capital; migrants with high levels of dynamic human capital can overcome the birthplace effect after relocating to escalator regions.

How Do Older Parents With One Child Live? The Well-Being of Chinese Elders Affected by the One-Child Policy

China’s One-Child per couple policy (OCP) has created a generation of one-child families, and these parents are now getting old. How do they live? This study examined the well-being of this cohort with four indicators: subjective (life satisfaction), mental (depression), physical (health), and psychological well-being (positive psychological functioning). Data were collected from the Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS), and parents aged 60 and above were included. We examined the well-being of one-child older adults compared with those having multiple children across age groups and investigated the effects of children support and rural-urban difference. Compared with those with multiple children, one-child older adults were not at a disadvantage. They were significantly better in mental and physical well-being, with no difference in subjective or psychological well-being. One-child parents had a more stable pattern of subjective and mental well-being across age groups (60–64, 65–69, 70+). Among the three types of support, emotional support significantly predicted psychological well-being. Furthermore, urban older adults, of whom the majority were one-child parents, valued much more emotional support than their peers in rural areas. The findings suggest that the generation of Chinese older adults affected by the OCP live fairly well, and the parental status may shift older adults’ focus on filial piety expectations.

Heritage and hesitancy: how preference for traditional Chinese medicine influences vaccine attitudes.

Vaccine hesitancy, amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic, is a pressing public health challenge. This study investigates the association between Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) preference and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy within China. The study uses data from the 2021 Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS) (N = 2,690). Logistic regressions and Karlson-Holm-Breen (KHB) method are employed to analyzed the relationship between TCM preference and vaccine hesitancy. The study reaffirms prior findings by revealing a robust and stable association between TCM preference and vaccine hesitancy, which remains unaffected by socioeconomic and demographic confounders, as well as institutional trust dynamics of healthcare system. Contrary to expectations, TCM enthusiasts do not exhibit vaccine hesitancy based on divergent epistemological views concerning vaccine risks and immunity acquisition compared to biomedicine. This research enriches understandings of the intricate relations between healthcare paradigms and vaccine attitudes, inviting further inquiry into the role of CAM in shaping vaccination behaviors across different cultures and contexts. The insights bear significant public health implications for enhancing vaccine acceptance and coverage, particularly among populations where CAM practices wield substantial influence.

Entrepreneurship and mental well-being in China: the moderating roles of work autonomy and subjective socioeconomic status

Entrepreneurs’ mental well-being has been a nascent research topic in the entrepreneurship domain, but it remains unclear whether and how entrepreneurship affects mental well-being in the context of emerging economies. Drawing on the self-determination theory (SDT), we developed a model in which entrepreneurship, compared to wage–employment, was identified as a career choice more conducive to work-related and socioeconomic status (SES)-related psychological functioning (i.e., work autonomy and subjective SES), which, in turn, produces mental well-being benefits. We tested this model in the Chinese context by providing evidence based on data from the Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS) between 2010 and 2021 (N = 28,419). We found that entrepreneurs had higher levels of positive mental well-being and lower levels of negative mental well-being than paid employees. Mediation analysis showed that subjective SES mediated the relationship between entrepreneurship and mental well-being and explained this relationship better than work autonomy. These findings indicated that the mental well-being benefits of entrepreneurship existed in emerging economies like China and highlighted the crucial role of SES-related psychological functioning in facilitating entrepreneurs’ mental well-being.

Unveiling the direct and indirect effects of sibling size on happiness: evidence from adults in early and mid-adulthood in China

As China grapples with the dual policy challenges of declining birth rates and the pursuit of individual happiness, understanding the relationship between these two factors is important. This study empirically examined the influence of sibling size on happiness in China, distinguishing between direct and indirect channels of impact. Using data from the 2008 Chinese General Social Survey, this analysis focused on how sibling size shapes individual income and education levels, which are both key determinants of happiness. It addressed the endogeneity issue inherent in sibling size by employing variations in the implementation of family planning policies across provinces in the 1970s as instrumental variables. The findings revealed an indirect relationship between sibling size and happiness; an increase in sibling size negatively affected both income and education levels, subsequently reducing happiness. This study contributes to the ongoing dialogue on the relationship between family size and individual happiness in China by offering nuanced insights into the channels through which these effects occur. This study also highlights the policy implications, suggesting that initiatives to raise the birth rate should be accompanied by efforts to enhance income and educational opportunities to foster individual happiness.

Attitude toward gender inequality in China

This study explores determinants of attitudes toward gender inequality among Chinese people using five waves of the Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS) and East Asian Social Survey (EASS, 2016). The study uses five survey questions regarding the relative roles of men and women in the family and workplace to measure gender attitudes. Utilizing the pooled data, the study finds temporal changes of attitude: women are expected to be more responsible for paid jobs than before while their job security is not given enough support; meanwhile, women’s share in housework is not anticipated to be reduced. The results suggest that the Chinese attitude toward women’s roles is stuck between the modern and old eras. Education is found to be the most crucial determinant of attitude. Education is positively correlated with attitudes supporting women regarding gender inequality. In addition, if the wife has a higher education than the husband, the respondent tends to have an attitude toward gender equality. Furthermore, a large part of the urban-rural difference in attitude can be explained by the urban-rural difference in education. These findings have a straightforward policy implication: to reduce the negative attitude toward gender inequality, education for women and rural regions needs to be promoted. Additionally, by combining the Chinese General Social Survey 2017 and the East Asian Social Survey 2016, this study finds that an individual’s patrilineal values conflict with the attitude toward gender equality, suggesting that traditional culture is a potential root of gender inequality.

Can hypergamy affect married women's entrepreneurship in China?

Women's entrepreneurship in China remains an under-researched topic from a marital angle, especially the significant effects of marital status in hypergamy, a type of marriage in which the socioeconomic status of the woman is lower than that of the man. This paper fills this research gap by investigating the relationship between marriage and women's entrepreneurship, particularly different effects of marital status based on the data from the 2017 Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS), a nationwide survey in mainland China. The findings reveal that women in education-based hypergamy (men's education levels are higher than women's) are less likely to establish a business, whereas women in income-based hypergamy (men's incomes are higher than women's) are more likely to undertake entrepreneurship. In addition, raising more children would strengthen the negative impact of education-based hypergamy on women entrepreneurs. Moreover, we examine the mediation roles of decision-making power and social capital for the underlying mechanisms of education-based hypergamy and income-based hypergamy respectively. Our study contributes to existing literature on the correlation between marriage (hypergamy in particular) and female entrepreneurship in China, meanwhile applies the theories of power-dependence, opportunity cost and bargaining to better comprehend the martial influence on female entrepreneurship, and draws practical implications for developing countries.

Intergenerational reproduction and self-assessed mental health in adulthood in China

Physical and mental health disparities by socioeconomic status in China are well documented but the effects of the intergenerational reproduction in socioeconomic status on adult mental health have received little attention to date. We utilized cross-sectional data from the 2017 Chinese General Social Survey to examine the significance of intergenerational socioeconomic reproduction for differences in self-assessed mental health in a national sample of Chinese adults between the ages of 23 and 65. We documented substantial elasticities between the socioeconomic status of the survey respondents and their parents: father's education, mother's education and childhood social class were all associated with both respondent education and respondent household income. We also found that associations between parental socioeconomic status and their adult children's self-assessed mental health were partly explained by the children's own socioeconomic status. However, these pathways were noticeably moderated by age cohort. Among younger people, associations between parental socioeconomic status and mental health were mostly explained by educational attainment whereas among older people associations between parental socioeconomic status and mental health were mostly explained by household income. In general, parental socioeconomic status appear to have a greater influence on the mental health of people who grew up after the Chinese economic reform of the 1970s.

1 km of living area: age differences in the association between neighborhood environment perception and self-rated health among Chinese people

ObjectivesThis study aimed to explore the age differences in the relationship between neighborhood environment perception and self-rated health among Chinese people.Study designThis is cross-sectional study.MethodsThe participants were 2,631 residents aged 18 and above from 2021 Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS). Self-rated health was reported by residents. Neighborhood environment was measured by respondents’ subjective perception of 1 km living area. Ordered logit regression models were used to examine the relationship between neighborhood environment perception and self-rated health.ResultsIn summary, 42.08% were classified as young adults, and 57.92% were classified as middle-aged and older adults. Young adults with higher perception of neighborhood social environment were more likely to perceive good health. Neighborhood built environment was significantly associated with self-rated health among middle-aged and older adults.ConclusionThe neighborhood environment is an important predictor of the health of its residents. Neighborhood environmental modifications should be tailored to meet the needs of different age groups, promoting health equity.

From Good Expectancy to Good Feelings: How Optimism Is Related to Subjective Well-Being in Chinese Adults through the Pathway of Coping.

Positive psychology has attracted increasing attention from many scholars worldwide. There is a considerable body of knowledge on the relationship between optimism and subjective well-being (SWB). However, their mediation mechanism has not been fully studied, and most of the current conclusions were formulated within the context of Western culture, with a limited number of empirical studies specifically targeting Chinese people. Based on the theories of self-regulation and stress coping, our research aimed to validate the association between optimism and SWB among Chinese adults and further investigate the mediating effect of positive and negative coping in this relationship. In Study 1, using a national dataset from the Chinese General Social Survey (N = 12,582), we captured the direct positive relationship between optimism and SWB. In Study 2, taking a cross-sectional study (N = 272), we found the mediating effect of positive and negative coping in the relationship between optimism and SWB according to correlation and regression analysis. In Study 3, taking a cross-lagged study (N = 343), we reverified the results of Study 2 and found negative coping no longer played a role as a mediator after accounting for the factors of social desirability and state anxiety in the analysis. These findings are worthwhile for paying attention to Chinese people's optimistic traits and the pathways to improving their subjective well-being using different coping behaviors.

Party membership and self-assessed health: Evidence from the Communist Party of China

BackgroundIn some countries, party membership is often associated with returns. We studied the relationship between party membership and self-assessed health. MethodsData were obtained from the 2017 Chinese General Social Survey (N = 11,641). Self-assessed health was defined as the personal evaluation of physical and psychological well-being. Logistic regression was used to explore relevant associations. ResultsMembers of the Communist Party of China (CPC) were more likely than non-CPC respondents to register self-assessments of relatively healthy physical (beta = 0.319, SE = 0.098, P < 0.01, CI: 0.127–0.512) and psychological (beta = 0.257, SE = 0.072, P < 0.01, CI: 0.115–0.399) conditions. ConclusionsPrevious studies have overlooked the health-related rewards of CPC membership. Reforms to China's public health system can be smoothly implemented probably because of the health benefits accrued to party members.

The impact of Chinese public expenditures on household investment in risky financial assets: Evidence from a national survey

AbstractUsing data from the 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2018, and 2021 Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS), this paper investigates the effect of public expenditures on household investment in risky financial assets. Our findings show that a higher level of public expenditures significantly increases household investment in stocks and other risky financial assets and that the respondent's overconfidence in their financial well‐being partially mediates such an effect. We further provide evidence that the influence of public expenditures on household investment behavior in risky financial assets is robust after considering various sample heterogeneities by disaggregating public expenditures and risky financial assets into different subcategories and dividing households into different age and socioeconomic groups.