背景:社会养老金,农村老年人社会救助制度,已经在许多国家实施,并对健康产生了积极影响。中国社会养老金计划的长期健康后果尚不确定。这项研究的目的是评估新农村社会养老金(NRSP)对中国农村老年人的长期健康影响。
方法:基于2011年和2018年中国健康与退休纵向研究,我们比较了农村老年人参与NRSP前后8个健康相关生活质量(HRQoL)分量表的得分.在数据分析中使用倾向得分匹配和差异差异方法。我们还对具有不同特征和养老金入学时间的亚组进行了异质性分析。
结果:NRSP显著提高了身体机能评分,角色-物理,农村老年参与者的心理健康自我评估为1.90(p<0.01),2.05(p<0.01),和2.93(p<0.05),分别。在排除新登记的个人后,NRSP的有益健康影响仍然显著。在农村老年人的HRQoL子量表上的其他五个得分中,由于NRSP而没有显着变化。NRSP对没有正规教育的欠发达地区的老年人有更多的健康益处。
结论:NRSP减少了健康差距,对农村老年人的身心健康有长期益处。我们建议在整个中国农村不断扩大NRSP,并进一步完善社会支持系统,以提高农村老年人的整体生活质量。针对弱势群体的可比社会养老金计划也可以在其他低收入或中等收入国家进行。
BACKGROUND: Social pensions, social assistance systems for older people in rural areas, have been put into place in many nations and have positively impacted health. The long-term health consequences of social pension programs in China are uncertain. The aim of this study is to evaluate the long-term health consequences of the new rural social pension (NRSP) for the rural older people in China.
METHODS: Based on the 2011 and 2018 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, we compared the scores on eight Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) subscales of the rural older people before and after participation in the NRSP. The propensity score matching and difference-in-difference methods were used in data analysis. We also conducted a heterogeneity analysis for subgroups with different characteristics and pension enrolment times.
RESULTS: The NRSP significantly enhanced scores on physical functioning, role-physical, and self-rated mental health of old rural participants by 1.90 (p < 0.01), 2.05 (p < 0.01), and 2.93 (p < 0.05), respectively. After excluding newly enrolled individuals, the beneficial health effects of the NRSP remained significant. There were no significant changes due to NRSP in the other five scores on the HRQoL subscale of the rural older people. The NRSP had more health benefits for older people in underdeveloped areas without formal schooling.
CONCLUSIONS: The NRSP reduced health disparities and had long-term benefits on the physical and mental health of the rural older people. We suggest continuously expanding the NRSP throughout rural China and further improving the social support system to enhance the overall quality of life of the rural older people. Comparable social pension programs aimed at underprivileged groups could also be conducted in other low- or middle-income nations.