Document Type
Article
Date of Original Version
2016
Abstract
Objectives: To examine whether older parents in China would benefit more from daughters’ care than from sons’ care.
Methods: Analysis of the unique datasets of the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey conducted in 2002, 2005 and 2008-2009 in 22 provinces.
Results: As compared to having son(s), having daughter(s) is significantly more beneficial at older ages in China, with regards to maintaining higher cognitive capacity and reducing mortality risk. Such daughter-advantages are more profound among the oldest-old aged 80+ as compared to the young-old aged 65-79, and surprisingly more profound in rural areas as compared to urban areas, even though son-preference is much more common among rural residents.
Discussion: We describe how educational campaigns aimed at informing the public about the benefits of daughter(s) for older parents’ health outcome could help promote gender equality and reduce traditional son-preference, especially in rural China.
Citation/Publisher Attribution
Zeng, Yi, et al. “Older Parents Benefit More in Health Outcome From Daughters’ Than Sons’ Emotional Care in China.” Journal of Aging and Health, vol. 28, no. 8, Dec. 2016, pp. 1426–1447, doi:10.1177/0898264315620591.
Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/0898264315620591
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