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Economic Stress, Quality of Life, and Mortality for the Oldest-Old in China

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Abstract

China’s oldest old population is estimated to quadruple by 2050. Yet, poverty rate for the oldest old has been the highest among all age groups in China. This paper investigates the relationship between economic stress, quality of life, and mortality among the oldest-old in China. Both objective economic hardships and perceived economic strain are examined. We base our investigation on data drawn from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey conducted between 2000 and 2005. Our sample includes 10,972 men and women between the ages of 80 and 105 in 2000. The data show that about 16% of these oldest-old lived under economic stress in 2000. The risk factors that make one vulnerable to economic stress include age, being male, being widowed or never married, being a minority member, having no education, having no living children, and not having children as main source of income, and having no pension. Economic stress is negatively associated with indicators of quality of life, such as the quality of medical care and mental well-being. The poor quality of life contributes to the higher mortality rate for the oldest old who are under economic stress. Results also show that perceived economic strain increases the risk of mortality by 42% in rural areas, even after controlling for basic demographic characteristics, life style factors, and major health events. For the rural oldest-old, having children as a main source of income and having access to pension alleviates the negative impact of economic hardship on mortality hazard by 23 and 66% respectively. However, in urban areas, economic stress has no direct impact on the hazard of mortality.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Professor Zeng Yi for providing us with access to the data and his advice in data analysis. Data used for this research was provided by the longitudinal study entitled “Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey” (CLHLS) managed by the Center for Healthy Aging and Family Studies, Peking University. CLHLS is supported by funds from Duke University under an award from the U.S. National Institutes on Aging (NIA) (R01 AG23627-01; PI: Zeng Yi), and by China Natural Science Foundation, China Social Science Foundation, UNFPA, and Hong Kong Research Grant Council.

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  1. National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    W. Jean Yeung

  2. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    W. Jean Yeung

  3. Peking University, Beijing, People’s Republic of China

    Zhenhua Xu

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  1. W. Jean Yeung
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Correspondence to W. Jean Yeung.

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Yeung, W.J., Xu, Z. Economic Stress, Quality of Life, and Mortality for the Oldest-Old in China. Soc Indic Res 108, 131–152 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-011-9870-1

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