Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/304291 
Year of Publication: 
2024
Series/Report no.: 
GLO Discussion Paper No. 1503
Publisher: 
Global Labor Organization (GLO), Essen
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.
Subjects: 
Social pension
Child health
Inter-generational relationship
Intra-household allocation
Migration
Living arrangement
China
JEL: 
H23
H31
H55
I38
J22
O15
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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