The Influence Of Grandchild Care On The Withdrawal Of The Elderly From The Labor Market

During the "14th Five-Year Plan" period,the phenomenon of aging and declining birthrate in China has become increasingly severe,which has become a major challenge for economic and social development.While the state implements the policy of delaying retirement,it optimizes the birth policy to increase the birth rate,which makes the middle-aged and elderly people face the challenge of taking care of their grandchildren more.At present,although the literature has studied the influence of caring for grandchildren and middle-aged and elderly people’s labor decision-making,there is no empirical test on the re levant influence mechanism,and there is no literature concerned about the influence of caring for grandchildren on their labor decision-making.Based on this,this paper uses the data of CHARLS2018 national survey for empirical analysis,which provides a useful supplement for the research in this field.On the basis of combing the related literature at home and abroad,this paper first analyzes the mechanism from two aspects: health change and intergenerational exchange.Taking care of grandchildren change s the health status of middle-aged and elderly people,their children’s expectation of providing for the aged,the level of financial support given to children and the level of financial support obtained by children,thus affecting their labor decisions.S econdly,it analyzes the current situation of intergenerational care and middle-aged and elderly people’s withdrawal from the labor market in China by using micro data,and points out that there is a conflict between caring for grandchildren and the develo pment of human capital of middle-aged and elderly people.Then,the theoretical mechanism mentioned above is empirically tested,and at the same time,endogenous test,intermediary mechanism test and heterogeneity regression are carried out.The empirical results show that:First,caring for grandchildren has a significant positive impact on middle-aged and elderly people’s withdrawal from the labor market.Secondly,"taking care of inner grandchildren" is still the mainstream phenomenon of family care in C hina.Taking care of grandchildren is more likely to prompt middle-aged and elderly people to withdraw from the labor market.Every additional unit of child care for son will increase the probability of middle-aged and elderly people withdrawing from the labor market by 22%;Every additional unit of child care for daughter will increase the probability of middle-aged and elderly people withdrawing from the labor market by26%.Thirdly,high-intensity care encourages middle-aged and elderly people to withdraw from the labor market.Compared with rural middle-aged and elderly people,urban middle-aged and elderly people have lower care intensity and higher care proportion,and caring for their grandchildren further urges urban middle-aged and elderly people to withdraw from the labor market.Fourthly,the health status of middle-aged and elderly people who care for their grandchildren,their children’s pension expectations and financial support are negatively related to their withdrawal from the labor market,while their children’s financial support is positively related to them.Middle-aged and elderly people aged 50-60 are more likely to withdraw from the labor market because of caring for their grandchildren.Finally,According to the theoretical analysis and empirical research results,This paper proposes that parent-child companionship and parent-child rearing should be advocated,establish diversified childcare service system,and implement flexible working system and retirement system.