Impacts of Migrant Adult Children on Life Satisfaction of Rural Elderly in China

• In Event: 2233 - Internal Migration

Abstract

Although the consequences for migrants in the destination have been commonly investigated on rural-urban migration process, much less attention has been given to observe the outcomes for those who are left behind in the original places. Meanwhile, the specific experience of the left behind and their attitudes towards current life are somehow ignored in existing literature. Based on the data from Chinese Family Panel Studies (CFPS), this paper attempts to use the framework of social support to explain the impacts of the migration on the life satisfaction of elderly in rural China. The research compares life satisfaction between non-left behind elderly and left behind elderly in the middle western regions of China, and to investigate the mediating effect of social support, we introduce three categories of support from family to observe the impacts of migrant adult children on the rural elderly in China. The results show that the migration of adult children leads to a lower level of life satisfaction and adult children play an essential role in taking care of old people in the Chinese family of rural areas. Therefore, the demand and dependence of old people in rural areas on financial, physical and mental support have a significant impact on life satisfaction.

Authors

• Zheng Zhou, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

• Yiming Shi, The Chinese University of Hong Kong