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International Journal for Equity in Health
Published in: International Journal for Equity in Health 1/2015

Open Access 01-12-2015 | Research

Socio-economic factors related with the subjective well-being of the rural elderly people living independently in China

Authors: Yicheng Zhou, Linyi Zhou, Changluan Fu, You Wang, Qingle Liu, Hongtao Wu, Rongjun Zhang, Linfeng Zheng

Published in: International Journal for Equity in Health | Issue 1/2015

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Abstract

Background

Many Chinese elderly increasingly face the serious problem of the “empty nest” phenomenon. The elderly living independently, also called empty-nest elderly, refers to elderly people living alone whose children left home. However few studies concerned about the subjective well-being (SWB) of the elderly living independently.

Methods

This study employs The Memorial University of Newfoundland Scale of Happiness (MUNSH) to explore the SWB of the elderly living independently in rural areas of Wenzhou, a relatively developed region in China. 536 sampled are randomly selected.

Results

The results indicate that participants obtained low scores in positive affect, positive experience, and the total SWB score, but high scores in negative affect and negative experience. Age, low education, poor health condition and little income were found to be negatively correlated with SWB. The SWB score of the elderly living with a spouse is higher than those who divorced or lost their spouse and the score of women is lower than that of men. In addition, the survey revealed that children’s support has a positive influence on the SWB of the rural elderly living independently.

Conclusions

The elderly living independently in rural Wenzhou, China have unfavorable SWB. Poor socio-economic statuses are negative impact factors. But the children’s support can help to improve. Special attention is needed to those with lower socio-economic status and less children’s support.
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Metadata
Title
Socio-economic factors related with the subjective well-being of the rural elderly people living independently in China
Authors
Yicheng Zhou
Linyi Zhou
Changluan Fu
You Wang
Qingle Liu
Hongtao Wu
Rongjun Zhang
Linfeng Zheng
Publication date
01-12-2015
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
International Journal for Equity in Health / Issue 1/2015
Electronic ISSN: 1475-9276
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-015-0136-4

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