A Study On The Impact Of Intergenerational Support On Older People’s Labour Force Participation

With the development of society,China’s population is ageing and at the same time,the average life expectancy of people is also increasing year by year,which brings about a gradual increase in the scale of participation in the labour force of the elderly who have reached retirement age,which has aroused the concern of all sectors of society on the topics of "labour force participation of the elderly" and "active development of labour resources of the elderly".This has drawn the attention of all sectors of society to the issues of "participation in the labour force" and "active development of the labour force resources of the elderly".The traditional concept of family is that parents and children need to have a mutually supportive relationship structure,i.e.parents raising their minor children and adult children supporting their elderly parents.However,with the development of society,influenced by multiple factors such as higher cost of living,increased work pressure and insufficient time for family care,the traditional intergenerational family relationship in China has changed,mainly in the form of parents needing to provide financial support for their children and intergenerational care support,thus making intergenerational support an important factor affecting the labour force participation of older people.This paper explores the impact of intergenerational support on the labour participation of older people by combing relevant literature at home and abroad,combining social role theory,intergenerational exchange theory and household production theory,and based on the 2018 China Health and Aging Tracking Survey database,and selecting older people aged sixty years or above as the study population.The core independent variable of this paper is intergenerational support,which includes three aspects of financial support,emotional support and life care,and the dependent variable labour participation is divided into two components: whether or not to participate in labour(probability of labour participation)and labour participation intensity,and regression analysis is conducted using Probit and Tobit models,and heterogeneity is analysed from four perspectives: different genders,age groups,urban and rural types and number of children.To explore whether there are differences in the effects of intergenerational support on older people’s labour force participation between different groups.The main findings of this paper are as follows.Firstly,the number of older people in China is increasing,their proportion is rising,their labour force participation is high,their labour force participation is more intense,and their labour force participation is expanding and tending to age.Secondly,intergenerational support has an impact on the labour force participation of older people.In terms of economic support,upward intergenerational economic support has a negative impact on the labour participation and labour participation intensity of older people,while downward intergenerational economic support has a positive impact on the labour participation and labour participation intensity of older people;in terms of emotional support,the more frequent offline interactions,the more negative impact on the labour participation and labour participation intensity of older people,in contrast to the more frequent online communication interactions,the more positive impact on the labour participation and labour participation intensity of older people.In terms of caregiving,the provision of intergenerational care positively influences older people’s labour participation and labour participation intensity,while the provision of intergenerational care negatively influences older people’s labour participation and labour participation intensity.Thirdly,the impact of intergenerational support on labour force participation among older people across gender,age group,urban and rural types and number of children shows differentiation.In terms of financial support,the probability of labour force participation and intensity of labour force participation are greater for men,younger(aged 60-75),rural and older people with many children(two or more children)when children provide financial support to their parents,and for younger,rural and older people with many children when parents provide financial support to their children.In terms of emotional support,the more frequent offline interactions had a greater impact on the probability and intensity of labour force participation among rural and older adults with many children,and the more frequent online interactions had a greater impact on the probability and intensity of labour force participation among men,older adults and older adults with many children;in terms of caregiving,the provision of intergenerational care had a greater impact on the probability and intensity of labour force participation among men,younger adults(aged60-75),urban and older adults with few children(no children or only one).The intensity of intergenerational care provision had a greater impact on the probability of labour force participation and labour force participation intensity for males,younger and rural older people,and a greater impact on labour force participation intensity for females and younger older people.Based on the above findings,this paper proposes the following policy references to encourage the participation of older people in the labour force: improve the system of labour participation services for older people;improve the system of childcare system and improve childcare services;implement a policy of delayed retirement and protect the employment rights of older people;and formulate precise and encouraging policies for special groups.