The Mechanisms of Long-Term Care Insurance in Improving the Mental Health of the Elderly: The Effects of Health Support and Intergenerational Emotional Support

ZHANG Qian; ZHOU Chunxia; LI Chunqiu

Volume 40 Issue 2

Mar. 2025

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Article Navigation > Journal of Guangdong University of Finance & Economics > 2025 > 40(2): 90-103

ZHANG Qian, ZHOU Chunxia, LI Chunqiu. The Mechanisms of Long-Term Care Insurance in Improving the Mental Health of the Elderly: The Effects of Health Support and Intergenerational Emotional Support[J]. Journal of Guangdong University of Finance & Economics, 2025, 40(2): 90-103.

Citation:

ZHANG Qian, ZHOU Chunxia, LI Chunqiu. The Mechanisms of Long-Term Care Insurance in Improving the Mental Health of the Elderly: The Effects of Health Support and Intergenerational Emotional Support[J]. Journal of Guangdong University of Finance & Economics, 2025, 40(2): 90-103.

Citation:

ZHANG Qian, ZHOU Chunxia, LI Chunqiu. The Mechanisms of Long-Term Care Insurance in Improving the Mental Health of the Elderly: The Effects of Health Support and Intergenerational Emotional Support[J]. Journal of Guangdong University of Finance & Economics, 2025, 40(2): 90-103.

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The Mechanisms of Long-Term Care Insurance in Improving the Mental Health of the Elderly: The Effects of Health Support and Intergenerational Emotional Support

School of Government Management, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China

Received Date: 2024-11-20
Available Online: 2025-03-31
Publish Date: 2025-03-28

Abstract

Abstract

With the increasingly severe aging situation in China, the health problems of the elderly, especially mental health issues, have become pressing social challenges that need to be resolved. Long-term care insurance (LTCI) as an important social policy to improve the living standards of the elderly, is featured with a dual nature of safeguarding health and compensating economy. Based upon the panel data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS), this study employs a difference-in-differences (DID) model and finds that the LTCI significantly improves the mental health of the elderly, reducing their depression symptom scores by an average of 10.92%. Mechanism analysis indicates that LTCI enhances the mental health of the elderly through the health support effect and the intergenerational emotional support effect. Heterogeneity results show that LTCI has a more significant effect on the elderly in the full-coverage insurance participants, female elderly, single-child families, and low-income households. This study suggests it is necessary to refine the grading and categorized service standards of LTCI and strengthen the familial emotional support, in order to improve the mental health of the elderly.
- long-term care insurance,
- aging,
- mental health,
- emotional support

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References

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