| Since entering the 21st century,China’s aging process has gradually accelerated,and in 2023,the population will show negative growth for the first time,and the issue of population aging has become the primary issue of social development.The completion of a moderately prosperous society in an all-round way in 2020 marks another step in the living standards of our people,the people’s material needs can be basically satisfied,and the people’s pursuit has shifted to the expectation of a better life.In terms of old-age care,the material needs of the elderly can be guaranteed,and there is still a big gap in the satisfaction of spiritual comfort needs.With the acceleration of urbanization,a large number of rural young adults have entered the city,and the phenomenon of "empty nest old people" has appeared in the countryside,and the spiritual comfort level of the rural elderly is worse than that of the city,which should be paid more attention.For the rural elderly,the form of family pension is still the mainstream,and children are the main role in providing old-age services.The introduction of the three-child policy by the state to encourage childbirth has caused the author to think about the impact of child structure on the spiritual comfort of the elderly.Based on the research results of predecessors,based on the theory of intergenerational exchange,social support theory and gender role theory,and using the latest data of CHARLS 2018,this study selects OLS regression model to study the influence of the number of children,gender,marriage and education structure on the spiritual comfort of rural elderly people,and analyzes the heterogeneity of urban and rural areas.According to the results of the regression,combined with the research and interviews of several farmers in a county of Hebi City,Henan Province,targeted policy suggestions were put forward.The results showed that:(1)the total number of children and the number of boys had a significant negative impact on both rural areas and the overall sample,while the number of girls did not have a significant effect,which may be due to the fact that after the daughter got married,the distance from her mother’s family became farther,which made it more difficult for the daughter to provide support;(2)In terms of the gender structure of children,only "only daughters" had a significant positive impact on the overall sample,which may be influenced by the concept of "raising children to prevent aging",and the role of daughters in the elderly was selectively ignored by elderly parents;(3)The number of unmarried boys and unmarried girls had a significant negative impact on the urban and rural samples,but there were obvious urban-rural differences,and the spiritual comfort of the rural elderly was more affected by the number of unmarried boys,while the spiritual comfort of the urban elderly was more affected by the number of unmarried girls,because according to the "marriage gradient theory",women were more inclined to choose men with better conditions than themselves to marry,resulting in difficulties in marriage for rural men and urban women for marriage.(4)The improvement of children’s education level can significantly improve the spiritual comfort level of rural elderly.Based on the above research results,the following four policy suggestions are put forward:first,guide the change of the concept of old-age care and attach importance to the advantages of daughters’ old-age care;Second,take more measures to increase the marriage rate and reduce the psychological pressure of elderly parents;Third,attach importance to the education and training of children and increase investment in children’s education;Fourth,promote the process of socialized old-age care and make up for the shortcomings of family old-age care. |
PDF Full Text Request