Health Inequality and Life Satisfaction in China: A Modernization Perspective

• In Event: 3422 - Section on Aging and Life Course Refereed Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 100min: Table 04. Global Health and Inequality

Abstract

Modernization can take in numerous forms and manifest in various facets. The meta-research question in the current study is to examine two facets of modernization in China: health inequality and inequality in subjective well-being. First, based on fundamental cause theory, as China develops, the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and body mass index (BMI) should shift from positive to negative over time. Second, based on modernization theory, association between material well-being (namely income and asset) and life satisfaction should become weaker over time. By employing hybrid model with the use of 3 waves of China Family Panel Studies (CFPS), I document a shift in relationship between income and BMI. But there is no evidence for any change in relationship between either asset or education with BMI. For life satisfaction, there seems to be a change in relationship for income but not for asset. Implications for future research are discussed.

Author

• Pui Yin Cheung, Indiana University Bloomington