IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/glodps/1503.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Grandfathers and Grandsons: Social Security Expansion and Child Health in China

Author

Listed:
  • Yang, Jinyang
  • Chen, Xi

Abstract

We examine the multi-generational association of a nationwide social pension program in China, the New Rural Pension Scheme (NRPS). NRPS was rolled out on full scale in 2012, and rural enrollees over the age of 60 are eligible to receive an average of 102 CNY non-contributory monthly pension. We leverage age eligibility and variations in pension receipt to identify the intergenerational associations between NRPS and health among grandchildren. We find NRPS substantially increases child weight without impacting height. Overall, the child BMI z score increases by 0.87, which is largely driven by grandfathers' pension receipt raising rates of overweight and obesity among grandsons. Among the potential mechanisms, our findings are more plausibly explained by a mixture of income increase, knowledge bias of co-residing grandparents on childcare, and son preference. Potential biases from differential reporting of primary caregivers and epigenetic transmissions unlikely drive our findings.

Suggested Citation

  • Yang, Jinyang & Chen, Xi, 2024. "Grandfathers and Grandsons: Social Security Expansion and Child Health in China," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1503, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:glodps:1503
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/304291/1/GLO-DP-1503.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Anne Case, 2004. "Does Money Protect Health Status? Evidence from South African Pensions," NBER Chapters, in: Perspectives on the Economics of Aging, pages 287-312, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. repec:pri:rpdevs:case_money_protect_nber is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Yang, Jinyang & Bazan Ruiz, Muchin I.A, 2021. "Are pilot experiments random? Social connections and policy expansion in China," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 18(C).
    4. repec:pri:cheawb:case_money_protect_nber.pdf is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Nikolov, Plamen & Adelman, Alan, 2019. "Do private household transfers to the elderly respond to public pension benefits? Evidence from rural China," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 14(C).
    6. Esther Duflo, 2003. "Grandmothers and Granddaughters: Old-Age Pensions and Intrahousehold Allocation in South Africa," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 17(1), pages 1-25, June.
    7. Cawley, John, 2015. "An economy of scales: A selective review of obesity's economic causes, consequences, and solutions," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 244-268.
    8. Imbens, Guido W. & Lemieux, Thomas, 2008. "Regression discontinuity designs: A guide to practice," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 142(2), pages 615-635, February.
    9. Chen, Xi & Eggleston, Karen & Sun, Ang, 2018. "The impact of social pensions on intergenerational relationships: Comparative evidence from China," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 12(C), pages 225-235.
    10. Chen, Xi & Hu, Lipeng & Sindelar, Jody L., 2020. "Leaving money on the table? Suboptimal enrollment in the new social pension program in China," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 15(C).
    11. Maitra, Pushkar & Ray, Ranjan, 2003. "The effect of transfers on household expenditure patterns and poverty in South Africa," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(1), pages 23-49, June.
    12. Lingguo Cheng & Hong Liu & Ye Zhang & Zhong Zhao, 2018. "The heterogeneous impact of pension income on elderly living arrangements: evidence from China’s new rural pension scheme," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 31(1), pages 155-192, January.
    13. He, Qinying & Li, Xun & Wang, Rui, 2018. "Childhood obesity in China: Does grandparents’ coresidence matter?," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 56-63.
    14. Case, Anne & Deaton, Angus, 1998. "Large Cash Transfers to the Elderly in South Africa," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 108(450), pages 1330-1361, September.
    15. Song, Yang, 2014. "What should economists know about the current Chinese hukou system?," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 200-212.
    16. Wei Huang & Chuanchuan Zhang, 2021. "The Power of Social Pensions: Evidence from China's New Rural Pension Scheme," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 13(2), pages 179-205, April.
    17. Esther Duflo, 2012. "Women Empowerment and Economic Development," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 50(4), pages 1051-1079, December.
    18. Chen, Xi & Wang, Tianyu & Busch, Susan H., 2019. "Does money relieve depression? Evidence from social pension expansions in China," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 220(C), pages 411-420.
    19. Esther Duflo & Christopher Udry, 2003. "Intrahousehold Resource Allocation in Côte D'ivoire: Social Norms, Separate Accounts and Consumption Choices," Working Papers 857, Economic Growth Center, Yale University.
    20. repec:pri:cheawb:case_money_protect_nber is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Ren Mu & Alan Brauw, 2015. "Migration and young child nutrition: evidence from rural China," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 28(3), pages 631-657, July.
    22. Rebecca Dizon-Ross & Seema Jayachandran, 2022. "Dads and Daughters: Disentangling Altruism and Investment Motives for Spending on Children," NBER Working Papers 29912, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    23. Xin Meng, 2012. "Labor Market Outcomes and Reforms in China," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 26(4), pages 75-102, Fall.
    24. Ning, Manxiu & Gong, Jinquan & Zheng, Xuhui & Zhuang, Jun, 2016. "Does New Rural Pension Scheme decrease elderly labor supply? Evidence from CHARLS," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 315-330.
    25. Anna, Petrenko, 2016. "Мaркування готової продукції як складова частина інформаційного забезпечення маркетингової діяльності підприємств овочепродуктового підкомплексу," Agricultural and Resource Economics: International Scientific E-Journal, Agricultural and Resource Economics: International Scientific E-Journal, vol. 2(1), March.
    26. Marcos A. Rangel, 2006. "Alimony Rights and Intrahousehold Allocation of Resources: Evidence from Brazil," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 116(513), pages 627-658, July.
    27. Young Jo & Qing Wang, 2017. "The impact of maternal employment on children's adiposity: Evidence from China's labor policy reform," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(12), pages 236-255, December.
    28. McCrary, Justin, 2008. "Manipulation of the running variable in the regression discontinuity design: A density test," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 142(2), pages 698-714, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Chen, Xi & Eggleston, Karen & Sun, Ang, 2018. "The impact of social pensions on intergenerational relationships: Comparative evidence from China," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 12(C), pages 225-235.
    2. Myerson, Rebecca & Lu, Tianyi & Yuan, Yong & Liu, Gordon, 2020. "The impact of government income transfers on tobacco and alcohol use: Evidence from China," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).
    3. Xi Chen, 2017. "Old age pension and intergenerational living arrangements: a regression discontinuity design," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 455-476, June.
    4. Lin, Yujie, 2018. "The Impact of China's New Rural Pension Scheme on Family Labor Supply: Does the Beneficiary's Gender Matter?," 2018 Annual Meeting, August 5-7, Washington, D.C. 274181, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    5. Zhaohua Zhang & Yuxi Luo & Derrick Robinson, 2019. "Who Are the Beneficiaries of China’s New Rural Pension Scheme? Sons, Daughters, or Parents?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(17), pages 1-16, August.
    6. Chen, Xi, 2015. "Old-Age Pension and Intergenerational Living Arrangements," IZA Discussion Papers 9482, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Yanjun Ren & Weigang Liu & Xuexi Huo & Thomas Glauben, 2023. "The impact of old‐age pension on nutritional outcomes: Evidence from Kyrgyzstan," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 39(S1), pages 1358-1381, December.
    8. Bradley, Elizabeth & Chen, Xi & Tang, Gaojie, 2020. "Social security expansion and neighborhood cohesion: Evidence from community-living older adults in China," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 15(C).
    9. Bergolo, Marcelo & Galván, Estefanía, 2018. "Intra-household Behavioral Responses to Cash Transfer Programs. Evidence from a Regression Discontinuity Design," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 100-118.
    10. Sipei Xu & Jia Zhang, 2022. "Do Social Pensions Affect the Physical and Mental Health of Rural Children in China? An Intergenerational Care Perspective," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(7), pages 1-25, March.
    11. Miguel Ángel Borrella Mas & Mariano Bosch Mossi & Marcello Sartarelli, 2016. "Non-Contributory Pensions Number-Gender Effects on Poverty and Household Decisions," Working Papers. Serie AD 2016-02, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Económicas, S.A. (Ivie).
    12. Simiao Chen & Zhangfeng Jin & Klaus Prettner, 2023. "Can I live with you after I retire? Retirement, old age support and internal migration in a developing country," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 56(3), pages 964-988, August.
    13. Zhaohua Zhang & Yuxi Luo & Derrick Robinson, 2020. "Do Social Pensions Help People Living on the Edge? Assessing Determinants of Vulnerability to Food Poverty Among the Rural Elderly," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 32(1), pages 198-219, January.
    14. Sun, Ang & Zhao, Yaohui, 2016. "Divorce, abortion, and the child sex ratio: The impact of divorce reform in China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 53-69.
    15. Pushkar Maitra & Ranjan Ray, 2006. "Household expenditure patterns and resource pooling: evidence of changes in post-apartheid South Africa," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 4(4), pages 325-347, December.
    16. Matthias Doepke & Michèle Tertilt, 2019. "Does female empowerment promote economic development?," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 24(4), pages 309-343, December.
    17. Sun, Ang & Zhao, Yaohui, 2014. "Divorce, Abortion and Children's Sex Ratio: The Impact of Divorce Reform in China," IZA Discussion Papers 8230, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    18. Jose A. Valderrama & Javier Olivera, 2023. "The effects of social pensions on mortality among the extreme poor elderly," Documentos de Trabajo / Working Papers 2023-525, Departamento de Economía - Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú.
    19. Fang Wang & Haitao Zheng, 2021. "Do Public Pensions Improve Mental Wellbeing? Evidence from the New Rural Society Pension Insurance Program," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-14, March.
    20. Charlotte Ringdal & Ingrid Hoem Sjursen, 2021. "Household Bargaining and Spending on Children: Experimental Evidence from Tanzania," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 88(350), pages 430-455, April.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Social pension; Child health; Inter-generational relationship; Intra-household allocation; Migration; Living arrangement; China;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
    • H31 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - Household
    • H55 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Social Security and Public Pensions
    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:zbw:glodps:1503. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/glabode.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.