Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Does Welfare Participation Improve Life Satisfaction? Evidence from Panel Data in Rural China

  • Research Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Happiness Studies Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Using recent national longitudinal survey data from the China Family Panel Studies in 2012 and 2014 and a combination of propensity score matching and difference-in-differences methods, this article examines the association between China’s rural Dibao program participation and recipients’ life satisfaction and explore how perceived social status and confidence about future might mediate this relationship. We also investigate and compare these effects and mediation pathways across young, middle-aged, and older adults. We find robust positive effect of rural Dibao participation on recipients’ life satisfaction and persistent mediation effects of both perceived social status and confidence about future in this relationship in the full sample. The analysis among different age groups revealed heterogenous life satisfaction effects of rural Dibao participation and different psychological mediation effects in this relationship. The empirical evidence from this article suggests that welfare programs such as rural Dibao can help improve recipients’ subjective well-being. Nevertheless, measures to remove welfare stigma and enhance in-kind supports are needed to help the poor achieve greater subjective well-being, especially among middle-aged adults whose work and family support needs are often difficult to be met.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Source: Ministry of Civil Affairs (various years)

Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. The “gate-keeper” here means that eligibility for these supplementary social assistances is tied to rural Dibao eligibility. Under this tied eligibility rule, once someone is identified as a Dibao recipient, she/he can often obtain not only the Dibao cash transfer, but also a bundle of other supplementary benefits such as education or medical assistance.

  2. CFPS 2012 and 2014 data used in this study are publicly available at http://www.isss.pku.edu.cn/cfps/.

  3. The measurement of per capita household net assets per capita was calculated by Jin and Xie (2014).

  4. A household is considered to be crowded if household had one or more of the following situations: (1) children aged over 12 lived in the same room with parents; (2) family members of three generations lived in the same room; (3) children of different genders aged over 12 lived in the same room; (4) beds were laid out at night and folded up during daytime; and (5) beds were laid out in the living room.

  5. M = (household out-of-pocket medical expenditure)/(household income − household food expenditure). No catastrophic medical expenditure if M < 40%. Moderate catastrophic medical expenditures if 40% ≤ M < 80%. Severe catastrophic medical expenditures if M ≥ 80%.

  6. For example, in 2014, while the urban Dibao’s coverage rate and transfer value were 2.51% and 3432 yuan per person per year respectively, the rural Dibao’s coverage rate and transfer value were 8.42% and 1548 yuan per person per year respectively (Ministry of Civil Affairs 2015; National Bureau of Statistics 2015).

References

  • Attah, R., Barca, V., Kardan, A., MacAuslan, I., Merttens, F., & Pellerano, L. (2016). Can social protection affect psychosocial wellbeing and why does this matter? Lessons from cash transfers in Sub-Saharan Africa. The Journal of Development Studies,52(8), 1115–1131.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bai, M., & Wu, G. (2017). An analysis on rural residents’ subjective well-being and the determinants: An empirical survey based on rural household data from ten counties in five provinces. China Rural Survey,133, 41–51. (in Chinese).

    Google Scholar 

  • Bailey, T., Eng, W., Frisch, M., & Snyder, C. (2007). Hope and optimism as related to life satisfaction. The Journal of Positive Psychology,2(3), 168–175.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bardo, A. (2017). A life course model for a domains-of-life approach to happiness: Evidence from the United States. Advances in Life Course Research,33, 11–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical consideration. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,51(6), 1173–1182.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barrientos, A., Gorman, M., & Heslop, A. (2003). Old age poverty in developing countries: Contributions and dependence in later life. World Development,31(3), 555–570.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brockmann, H. (2010). Why are middle-aged people so depressed? Evidence from west Germany. Social Indicators Research,97(1), 23–42.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bronk, K., Hill, P., Lapsley, D., Talib, T., & Finch, H. (2009). Purpose, hope, and life satisfaction in three age groups. The Journal of Positive Psychology,4(6), 500–510.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen, J., & Yang, L. (2016). Poverty and shame: Interactional impacts on claimants of Chinese Dibao. International Journal of Social Quality,6(2), 18–34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Curhan, K., Levine, C., Markus, H., Kitayama, S., Park, J., Karasawa, M., et al. (2014). Subjective and objective hierarchies and their relations to psychological well-being: A US and Japan comparison. Social Psychological and Personality Science,5(8), 855–864.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dehejia, R. H., & Wahba, S. (1999). Causal effects in nonexperimental studies: Reevaluating the evaluation of training programs. Journal of the American Statistical Association,94(448), 1053–1062.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ding, Y. (2017). Personal life satisfaction of China’s rural elderly: Effect of the new rural pension program. Journal of International Development,29(1), 52–66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Easterlin, R. (2006). Life cycle happiness and its sources: Intersections of psychology, economics, and demography. Journal of Economic Psychology,27(4), 463–482.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Easterlin, R., & Sawangfa, O. (2009). Happiness and domain satisfaction: New directions for the economics of happiness. In A. Dutt & B. Radcliff (Eds.), Happiness, economics, and politics: Towards a multi-disciplinary approach (pp. 70–94). Northampton: Edward Elgar.

    Google Scholar 

  • Galama, T., Morgan, R., & Saavedra, J. (2017). Wealthier, happier and more self-sufficient: When anti-poverty programs improve economic and subjective wellbeing at a reduced cost to taxpayers. NBER Working Paper 24090.

  • Gao, Q. (2017). Welfare, work, and poverty: Social assistance in China. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gao, Q., Wu, S., & Zhai, F. (2015). Welfare participation and time use in China. Social Indicators Research,124, 863–887.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gao, Q., & Zhai, F. (2017). Public assistance, economic prospect, and happiness in urban China. Social Indicators Research,132, 451–473.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gao, Q., Zhai, F., Yang, S., & Li, S. (2014). Does welfare enable family expenditures on human capital? Evidence from China. World Development,64, 219–231.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Golan, J., Sicular, T., & Umapathi, N. (2017). Unconditional cash transfers in China: Who benefits from the rural minimum living standard guarantee (Dibao) program? World Development,93, 316–336.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Halama, P. (2010). Hope as a mediator between personality traits and life satisfaction. Studia Psychologica,52(4), 309–314.

    Google Scholar 

  • Han, H., & Gao, Q. (2017). Protective effectiveness of Dibao in rural China: Empirical evidence from China Family Panel Studies. Journal of Public Management,14(2), 81–96. (in Chinese).

    Google Scholar 

  • Han, H., Gao, Q., & Xu, Y. (2016). Welfare Participation and Family Consumption Choices in Rural China. Global Social Welfare,3(4), 223–241.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Han, H., & Xu, Y. (2014). The anti-poverty effectiveness of the minimum living standard assistance policy in rural China: Evidence from five central and western provinces. Economic Review,6, 63–77. (in Chinese).

    Google Scholar 

  • Handa, S., Martorano, B., Halpern, C., Pettifor, A., & Thirumurthy, H. (2014). Subjective well-being, risk perceptions and time discounting: Evidence from a large-scale cash transfer programme. UNICEF Office of Research Working Paper 2014-02.

  • Haushofer, J., & Shapiro, J. (2016). The short-term impact of unconditional cash transfer to the poor: Experimental evidence from Kenya. The Quarterly Journal of Economics,131(4), 1973–2042.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • He, X. (2017). Several questions concerning the implementation of the rural minimum living standard guarantee system in China. Guangdong Social Science,3, 173–180. (in Chinese).

    Google Scholar 

  • He, Y., & Zhou, Q. (2016). A study on the Effect of Chinese New Rural Pension Program on Rural Subjective Well-being. Insurance Studies,3, 106–117. (in Chinese).

    Google Scholar 

  • Heckman, J., Ichimura, H., & Todd, P. (1997). Matching as an econometric evaluation estimator: Evidence from evaluating a job training programme. Review of Economic Studies,64(4), 605–654.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Howell, R., & Howell, C. (2008). The relation of economic status to subjective well-being in developing countries: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin,134(4), 536–560.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huang, S., Hou, J., Sun, L., Dou, D., Liu, X., & Zhang, H. (2017). The effects of objective and subjective socioeconomic status on subjective well-being among rural-to-urban migrants in China: The moderating role of subjective social mobility. Frontiers in Psychology,8, 1–9.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huo, X., & Lin, M. (2016). The policy implementation issues of China’s Dibao program: Its influencing factors and outcome. Suzhou University Academic Journal,6, 28–35. (in Chinese).

    Google Scholar 

  • Jin, Y., & Xie, Y. (2014). Technical Report on Household Wealth in 2010 and 2012. CFPS Technical Report CFPS-29. (in Chinese)

  • Kakwani, N., Li, S., Wang, X., & Zhu, M. (2017). Evaluating the effectiveness of the Rural Minimum Living Standard Guarantee (Dibao) program in China. ECINEQ Working Paper No. 2017-440.

  • Kilburn, K., Handa, S., Angeles, G., Tsoka, M., & Mvula, P. (2018). Paying for happiness: Experimental results from a large cash transfer program in Malawi. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management,37(2), 331–356.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kilburn, K., Thirumurthy, H., Halpern, C., Pettifor, A., & Handa, S. (2016). Effects of a larege-scale unconditional cash transfer program on mental health outcomes of young people in Kenya. Journal of Adolescent Health,58(2), 223–229.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knight, J., Lina, S., & Gunatilaka, R. (2009). Subjective well-being and its determinants in rural China. China Economic Review,20(4), 635–649.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Layard, R. (2010). Measuring subjective well-being. Science,327(5965), 534–535.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li, S., & Sicular, T. (2014). The distribution of household income in China: Inequality, poverty and policies. The China Quarterly,217, 1–41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li, M., & Walker, R. (2017). Shame, stigma and the take-up of social assistance: Insights from rural China. International Journal of Social Welfare,26, 230–238.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lolyd-Sherlock, P., Saboia, J., & Ramirez-Rodriguez, B. (2012). Cash transfers and the well-being of older people in Brazil. Development and Change,43(5), 1049–1072.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ministry of Civil Affairs [MCA] (2015). China Civil Affairs’ Statistical Yearbook, China Statistics Press, Beijing. (in Chinese)

  • National Bureau of Statistics [NBS]. (2015). China Statistics Yearbook. Beijing: China Statistics Press. (in Chinese).

    Google Scholar 

  • Nurmi, J. E. (1992). Age differences in adult life goals, concerns, and their temporal extension: A life course approach to future-oriented motivation. International Journal of Behavioral Development,15(4), 487–508.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oswald, A. J., & Wu, S. (2010). Objective confirmation of subjective measures of human well-being: Evidence from the USA. Science,327(5965), 576–579.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ozer, E., Fernald, L., Weber, A., Flynn, E., & VanderWeele, T. (2011). Does alleviating poverty affect mothers’ depressive symptoms? A quasi-experimental investigation of Mexico’s Oportunidades program. International Journal of Epidemiology,40, 1565–1576.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Qiu, Y., & He, X. (2017). Overused welfare: The policy goal deviation of rural minimum living security system and its interpretation. Politics Research,3, 63–74. (in Chinese).

    Google Scholar 

  • Rojas, M. (2015). Poverty and people’s wellbeing. In W. Glatzer, L. Camfield, V. Moller, & M. Rojas (Eds.), Global handbook of quality of life (International Handbooks of Quality-of-Life (pp. 317–350). Dordrecht: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Rosenbaum, P. R., & Rubin, D. B. (1983). The central role of the propensity score in observational studies for causal effects. Biometrika,70(1), 41–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sacks, D., Stevenson, B., & Wolfers, J. (2012). The new stylized facts about income and subjective well-being. IZA Discussion Paper No. 7105.

  • Samuels, F., & Stavropoulou, M. (2016). Being able to breathe again: The effects of cash transfer programmes on psychosocial wellbeing. The Journal of Development Studies,52(8), 1099–1114.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, J., & Todd, P. (2005). Does matching overcome Lalonde’s critique of non-experimental estimators? Journal of Econometrics,125(1–2), 305–353.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stevenson, B., & Wolfers, J. (2013). Subjective Well-Being and Income: Is There Any Evidence of Satiation? The American Economic Review,103(3), 598–604.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, Y., Gao, Q., & Yang, S. (2019). Prioritising health and food: Social assistance and family consumption in Rural China. China: An International Journal,17(1), 48–75.

    Google Scholar 

  • World Bank. (2014). The State of Social Safety Nets 2014. Washington, D.C: World Bank.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, X. (2015). New three-generation family structure under urbanization. Journal of Northwest Agriculture & Forest University (Social Science Edition),15(5), 120–126. (in Chinese).

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, C., Giles, J., & Zhao, Y. (2014). Policy evaluation of China’s new rural pension program: Income, poverty, expenditure, subjective wellbeing and labor supply. China Economic Quarterly,14(1), 203–230. (in Chinese).

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhao, L., Guo, Y., & Shao, T. (2017). Can the minimum living standard guarantee scheme enable the poor to escape the poverty trap in rural China? International Journal of Social Welfare,26, 314–328.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhuo, K., & Shi, J. (2016). The research on the link between rural Dibao and employment, social insurance policy. Fiscal Science,3, 105–117. (in Chinese).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Number: 71703008). The data used in this article are from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) carried out by the Institute of Social Science Survey of Peking University. We thank the Institute of Social Science Survey for providing the data which makes this study possible. We thank the anonymous reviewers whose feedback and suggestions helped improve the paper greatly. This research was carried out while Han was a visiting scholar at Columbia University hosted by Gao. We acknowledge the support from the Columbia School of Social Work and the Columbia China Center for Social Policy during the visiting period.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social Development and Public Policy, Beijing Normal University, 19 Xinjiekou Wai Street, Beijing, 100875, China

    Huawei Han

  2. School of Social Work, Columbia University, 1255 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY, 10027, USA

    Qin Gao

Authors
  1. Huawei Han
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Qin Gao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Huawei Han.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Han, H., Gao, Q. Does Welfare Participation Improve Life Satisfaction? Evidence from Panel Data in Rural China. J Happiness Stud 21, 1795–1822 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-019-00157-z

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-019-00157-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation