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Journal of Happiness Studies

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21-01-2017 | Research Paper

Does Economic Inequality Affect the Quality of Life of Older People in Rural Vietnam?

Authors: Tuyen Quang Tran, Cuong Viet Nguyen, Huong Van Vu

Published in: Journal of Happiness Studies | Issue 3/2018

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Abstract

By combining data from the 2011 Vietnam National Aging Survey and the 2011 Rural, Agricultural and Fishery Census, this study examined whether expenditure inequality has any effect on the quality of life (life satisfaction or happiness) among the elderly in rural Vietnam. It was confirmed from our regression analysis that individuals who live in the communes with high inequality tend to self-report as being less happy, even after controlling for various individual and household attributes. The findings are robust to the choice of inequality measures and the specification of econometric models. We also find that older rural people who are farmers or poor are more sensitive to inequality. Given that these people tend to be less happy than others, the result shows the risk that inequality further lowers their subjective well-being. This finding, in part, supports the view that rural Vietnam is not a mobile society.

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This is because happiness is a crucial component of quality of life (Sumngern et al. 2010).

In Vietnam, different poverty and inequality maps are constructed using the small area estimation method (e.g., recent studies are Nguyen 2011; Lanjouw et al. 2013).

Another possible explanation, is similar to that used by Gray et al. (2008), is that while many Vietnamese old people in rural areas do not live with their children or grandchildren, their home close to their children/grandchildren’s home. Furthermore, although the elderly do not co-reside with their children/grandchildren, their children/grandchildren still contribute positively to their material well-being and still maintain contact and visits.

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Title: Does Economic Inequality Affect the Quality of Life of Older People in Rural Vietnam?
Authors: Tuyen Quang Tran
Cuong Viet Nguyen
Huong Van Vu
Publication date: 21-01-2017
Publisher: Springer Netherlands
Published in: Journal of Happiness Studies / Issue 3/2018
Print ISSN: 1389-4978
Electronic ISSN: 1573-7780
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-017-9851-4

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