Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T05:31:06.045Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Life satisfaction among older adults in urban China: does gender interact with pensions, social support and self-care ability?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 January 2021

Mengni Chen ,
Yuanyuan Fu Open the ORCID record for Yuanyuan Fu [Opens in a new window]  and
Qingsong Chang
Mengni Chen
Affiliation:
Institute for Sociology and Social Psychology (ISS), Cologne University, Cologne, Germany Center for Demographic Research, Université Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique, Bruxelles, Belgium
Yuanyuan Fu*
Affiliation:
School of Social Development and Public Policy, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
Qingsong Chang
Affiliation:
School of Sociology and Anthropology, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In urban China, the social welfare system and the family structure have changed dramatically, while gender norms are still deep-rooted, particularly among older adults. Under this social, demographic and cultural context, this study aims to take a gender-specific perspective to investigate whether and how gender moderates the roles of pensions, social support and self-care ability on older adults’ life satisfaction. Based on the survey data collected from 2,047 older adults aged 65 years and over in urban China in 2018, multiple linear regressions were applied to explore the moderation effects. The results show that the pension is important to older adults’ life satisfaction regardless of gender. For social support, the association between family support and life satisfaction is stronger for older men than for older women; interdependent social support, especially being a confidant, matters more to women than to men. The interaction between self-care ability and gender reveals some interesting patterns: self-care ability is found to have a positive association with women's life satisfaction but a negative association with men's. This study contributes to the existing literature by demonstrating how gender intertwines with the most important factors of older adult's life satisfaction in China – a society with strong gender norms and a patriarchal culture. These findings could be relevant to other Asian societies.

Keywords

life satisfactionpensionsocial supportself-care abilitygender
Type
Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 42 , Issue 9 , September 2022 , pp. 2026 - 2045
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Acitelli, LK and Antonucci, TC (1994) Gender differences in the link between marital support and satisfaction in older couples. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 67, 688–698.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bai, X, Chan, KS and Chow, N (2012) Validation of self-image of aging scale for Chinese elders. International Journal of Aging and Human Development 74, 67–86.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bai, X, Guo, Y and Fu, YY (2018) Self-image and intergenerational relationships as correlates of life satisfaction in Chinese older adults: will gender make a difference? Ageing & Society 38, 1502–1519.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics (2019) Beijing Regional Statistics Yearbook. Available online: http://nj.tjj.beijing.gov.cn/nj/qxnj/2019/zk/indexch.htm.Google Scholar
Bishop, AJ, Martin, P, Johnson, MA and Poon, LW (2003) The influence of distal life events, perceptions of health, social support, and economic resources on life satisfaction in later life. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Gerontological Society of America, San Diego, CA.Google Scholar
Borg, C, Hallberg, IR and Blomqvist, K (2006) Life satisfaction among older people (65+) with reduced self-care capacity: the relationship to social, health and financial aspects. Journal of Clinical Nursing 15, 607–618.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chang, Q, Sha, F, Chan, CH and Yip, PSF (2018) Validation of an abbreviated version of the Lubben Social Network Scale (‘LSNS-6’) and its associations with suicidality among older adults in China. PLOS ONE 13, e0201612.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cheng, S-T and Chan, ACM (2006) Relationship with others and life satisfaction in later life: do gender and widowhood make a difference? Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 61B, P46–P53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chou, K-L and Chi, I (1999) Determinants of life satisfaction in Hong Kong Chinese elderly: a longitudinal study. Aging & Mental Health 3, 328–335.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chou, K-L and Chi, I (2000) Comparison between elderly Chinese living alone and those living with others. Journal of Gerontological Social Work 33, 51–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diener, E, Emmons, RA, Larsen, RJ and Griffin, S (1985) The satisfaction with life scale. Journal of Personality Assessment 49, 71–75.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dykstra, PA, Van Tilburg, TG and de Jong Gierveld, J (2005) Changes in older adult loneliness: results from a seven-year longitudinal study. Research on Aging 27, 725–747.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Enkvist, Å, Ekström, H and Elmståhl, S (2012) What factors affect life satisfaction (LS) among the oldest-old? Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics 54, 140–145.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Frericks, P, Knijn, T and Maier, R (2009) Pension reforms, working patterns and gender pension gaps in Europe. Gender, Work & Organization 16, 710–730.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Geist, C and Tabler, J (2018) Somebody has to DUST! Gender, health, and housework in older couples. Journal of Women & Aging 30, 38–48.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Guo, M, Chi, I and Silverstein, M (2017) Intergenerational support and depression among Chinese older adults: do gender and widowhood make a difference? Ageing & Society 37, 695–724.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gurung, RAR, Taylor, SE and Seeman, TE (2003) Accounting for changes in social support among married older adults: insights from the MacArthur Studies of Successful Aging. Psychology and Aging 18, 487–496.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Han, Y (2020) The correlation analysis of pension and older adults’ life satisfaction in rural and urban areas. Social Science Journal 3, 127–133.Google Scholar
Hobfoll, SE (2004) Stress, Culture, and Community: The Psychology and Philosophy of Stress. New York, NY: Springer.Google Scholar
Høy, B, Wagner, L and Hall, EOC (2007) Self-care as a health resource of elders: an integrative review of the concept. Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences 21, 456–466.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Iecovich, E and Lankri, M (2002) Attitudes of elderly persons towards receiving financial support from adult children. Journal of Aging Studies 16, 121–133.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Katz, R (2009) Intergenerational family relations and life satisfaction among three elderly population groups in transition in the Israeli multi-cultural society. Journal of Cross-cultural Gerontology 24, 77–91.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kim, JS (1998) A study on self-esteem, IADL, and life satisfaction in the elderly. Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing 28, 148–158.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krause, N (1987) Life stress, social support, and self-esteem in an elderly population. Psychology and Aging 2, 349–356.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Li, C, Chi, I, Zhang, X, Cheng, Z, Zhang, L and Chen, G (2015) Urban and rural factors associated with life satisfaction among older Chinese adults. Aging & Mental Health 19, 947–954.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lou, VWQ (2010) Life satisfaction of older adults in Hong Kong: the role of social support from grandchildren. Social Indicators Research 95, 377–391.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lu, N, Jiang, N, Lou, VWQ, Zeng, Y and Liu, M (2018) Does gender moderate the relationship between social capital and life satisfaction? Evidence from urban China. Research on Aging 40, 740–761.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lubben, JE (1988) Assessing social networks among elderly populations. Family & Community Health: The Journal of Health Promotion & Maintenance.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Luo, Y (2016) Gender and job satisfaction in urban China: the role of individual, family, and job characteristics. Social Indicators Research 125, 289–309.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
NBS (2018) Age Composition and Dependency Ratio of Population. Available at http://data.stats.gov.cn/english/easyquery.htm?cn=C01.Google Scholar
Ng, ST, Tey, NP and Asadullah, MN (2017) What matters for life satisfaction among the oldest-old? Evidence from China. PLOS ONE 12, e0171799.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ofstedal, MB, Reidy, E and Knodel, J (2004) Gender differences in economic support and well-being of older Asians. Journal of Cross-cultural Gerontology 19, 165–201.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2017) Pensions at a Glance 2017: OECD and G20 Indicators. Available at https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/finance-and-investment/oecd-pensions-at-a-glance_19991363.Google Scholar
Oshio, T (2012) Gender differences in the associations of life satisfaction with family and social relations among the Japanese elderly. Journal of Cross-cultural Gerontology 27, 259–274.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pinquart, M and Sörensen, S (2000) Influences of socioeconomic status, social network, and competence on subjective well-being in later life: a meta-analysis. Psychology and Aging 15, 187–224.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Russell, R (2007) Men doing ‘women's work’: elderly men caregivers and the gendered construction of care work. Journal of Men's Studies 15, 1–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schulz, U and Schwarzer, R (2004) Long-term effects of spousal support on coping with cancer after surgery. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology 23, 716–732.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shu, X and Zhu, Y (2012) Uneven transitions: period- and cohort-related changes in gender attitudes in China, 1995–2007. Social Science Research 41, 1100–1115.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sonnenberg, CM, Deeg, DJH, Van Tilburg, TG, Vink, D, Stek, ML and Beekman, ATF (2013) Gender differences in the relation between depression and social support in later life. International Psychogeriatrics 25, 61–70.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Springer, KW, Lee, C and Carr, D (2019) Spousal breadwinning across 30 years of marriage and husbands’ health: a gendered life course stress approach. Journal of Aging and Health 31, 37–66.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tobiasz-Adamczyk, B, Galas, A, Zawisza, K, Chatterji, S, Haro, JM, Ayuso-Mateos, JL, Koskinen, S and Leonardi, M (2017) Gender-related differences in the multi-pathway effect of social determinants on quality of life in older age – the COURAGE in Europe project. Quality of Life Research 26, 1865–1878.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Van Solinge, H and Henkens, K (2005) Couples’ adjustment to retirement: a multi-actor panel study. Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 60B, S11–S20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wen, X, Liang, Y, Zhu, J and Wu, T (2013) The effects of housework on the health of retired older adults: a preliminary investigation from the Tongji-Dongfeng cohort study, China. PLOS ONE 8, e57232.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Yang, Y, Zhou, W and Yiming, Z (2016) A study of gender differences of life satisfaction in Chinese older adults – based on the analysis of CHARLS 2013. Scientific Research on Aging 8, 66–80.Google Scholar
Zhang, Y and Goza, FW (2006) Who will care for the elderly in China? A review of the problems caused by China's one-child policy and their potential solutions. Journal of Aging Studies 20, 151–164.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhang, B and Li, J (2011) Gender and marital status differences in depressive symptoms among elderly adults: the roles of family support and friend support. Aging & Mental Health 15, 844–854.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zhang, W and Liu, G (2007) Childlessness, psychological well-being, and life satisfaction among the elderly in China. Journal of Cross-cultural Gerontology 22, 185–203.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zhang, AY and Lucy, CY (1998) Life satisfaction among Chinese elderly in Beijing. Journal of Cross-cultural Gerontology 13, 109–125.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zhao, R and Zhao, Y (2018) The gender pension gap in China. Feminist Economics 24, 218–239.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Supplementary material: File

Chen et al. supplementary material

Chen et al. supplementary material

Download Chen et al. supplementary material(File)
File 27.3 KB