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Subjective wellbeing of Chinese elderly: a comparative analysis among Hong Kong, Urban China and Taiwan

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 October 2019

Jia Miao  and
Xiaogang Wu
Jia Miao*
Affiliation:
Center for Applied Social and Economic Research, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR
Xiaogang Wu
Affiliation:
Center for Applied Social and Economic Research, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR
*
*Corresponding author. Email: miaojia@ust.hk
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Abstract

This study investigates the relative importance of living with adult children and social participation for the elderly's subjective wellbeing (happiness) in three Chinese societies (Hong Kong, urban China and Taiwan). We use data from the 2011 wave of the Hong Kong Panel Study of Social Dynamics (N = 1,658), the 2010 China Family Panel Studies in mainland China (N = 3,198) and the 2010 wave of the Taiwan Social Change Survey (N = 790). The ordinary least squares regression shows that, as the family value of society moves forward on a traditional–modern continuum, the elderly benefit more psychologically from social participation and less from living with children. The older people in Hong Kong who live independently with a spouse are in a significantly better emotional state than those living with adult children. Social participation is positively associated with subjective wellbeing among the aged in Hong Kong but not among those in urban China and Taiwan. The findings suggest that encouraging social involvement is important for effective public policy to tackle rapid population ageing in Chinese societies.

Keywords

subjective wellbeingliving arrangementsocial participationChinese society
Type
Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 41 , Issue 3 , March 2021 , pp. 686 - 707
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019

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