Inequality or Different Stories on Functional Limitations? Evidence from CHARLS Data

• In Event: 1517 - Section on Disability and Society Refereed Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 01. Gender, Race, and Disability

Abstract

Social conditions are considered as the fundamental cause of health inequality. In China, hukou system had produced segregated societies for rural and urban residents through different educational opportunities, labor markets and pension systems since 1950s. Scholars have reported evidence that there are unequal chances and the socioeconomic status (SES) between rural and urban residents. In this studying, the CHARLS baseline data (2011) is used to examine the heath outcome (functional limitations) among rural and urban people. By dividing respondents into four cohorts, the author examined the rural-urban difference in each age group. The Tobit regression model is used to analyze the data. The result reveals that: urban residents report averagely fewer functional limitations and better SES than rural residents. In each age group, rural residents are affected by more demographic variables (such as gender, marital status), and health behaviors than their urban counterparts. Education and pension are more likely to have influences on rural residents on functional limitations.

Author

• Chengming Han, Case Western Reserve University