tailieunhanh - Living Arrangements of the Elderly in China

Recent increases in Chinese elderly living alone or only with a spouse has raised concerns about elderly support, especially when public support is inadequate. However, using rich information from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, this paper finds that the increasing trend in living alone is accompanied with a rise in living close to each other. This type of living arrangement solves the conflicts between | WORKING P A P E R Living Arrangements of the Elderly in China Evidence from CHARLS XIAOYAN LEI JOHN STRAUSS MENG TIAN YAOHUI ZHAO WR-866 July 2011 This paper series made possible by the NIA funded RAND Center for the Study of Aging P30AG012815 and the NICHD funded RAND Population Research Center R24HD050906 . This product is part of the RAND Labor and Population working paper series. RAND working papers are intended to share researchers latest findings and to solicit informal peer review. They have been approved for circulation by RAND Labor and Population but have not been formally edited or peer reviewed. Unless otherwise indicated working papers can be quoted and cited without permission of the author provided the source is clearly referred to as a working paper. RAND s publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors. RAND is a registered trademark. LABOR AND POPULATION Living Arrangements of the Elderly in China Evidence from CHARLS July 2011 Xiaoyan Lei Peking University John Strauss University of Southern California Meng Tian Peking University Yaohui Zhao Peking University 1 Abstract Recent increases in Chinese elderly living alone or only with a spouse has raised concerns about elderly support especially when public support is inadequate. However using rich information from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study we find that the increasing trend in living alone is accompanied with a rise in living close to each other. This type of living arrangement solves the conflicts between privacy independence and family support. This is confirmed in further investigation children living close by visit their parents more frequently. We also find that children who live far away provide a larger amount of net transfers to their parents a result consistent with responsibility sharing among siblings. Having more children is associated with living with a child or having a child nearby while investing more in a child s .