Inverted U-shaped relationship between education and family health: The urban-rural gap in Chinese dual society
IntroductionThe Healthy China Initiative emphasizes family health. Education is an upstream determinant of health, which can both achieve upward mobility and cause class solidification.MethodsUsing nationwide large-scale data collected in 2021, the present study explored the relationship between edu...
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| Format: | Article |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-01-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Public Health |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2022.1071245/full |
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| author | Changli Jia Changli Jia Yanwen Long Xiaoxia Luo Xiao Li Wenjing Zuo Yibo Wu |
| author_facet | Changli Jia Changli Jia Yanwen Long Xiaoxia Luo Xiao Li Wenjing Zuo Yibo Wu |
| author_sort | Changli Jia |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | IntroductionThe Healthy China Initiative emphasizes family health. Education is an upstream determinant of health, which can both achieve upward mobility and cause class solidification.MethodsUsing nationwide large-scale data collected in 2021, the present study explored the relationship between education and family health in the urban-rural dual society via Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition and propensity score matching.ResultsOur data revealed disparities in family health, educational attainment, household income, healthcare coverage, and job type between urban and rural China. An inverted U-shaped relationship existed between increasing years of education and family health. The upper limit was 17.1 years for urban residents and 13.7 years for rural residents, with limited health benefits from higher education obtained by rural residents. Mediated by work-family conflict, highly-educated people received gradually diminishing health returns. The results of the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition showed that 25.8% of the urban-rural gap in family health could be explained by the disparity in education. Urban residents could translate cultural capital and economic capital into health capital to a greater extent. After propensity score matching, a robust, inverted U-shaped relationship was found between education and family health. The inverted U-shaped relationship was found to replace family health with self-rated health and quality of life.DiscussionFamily-centered public health and education programs, policies, and goals should be developed to break urban-rural dual structure barriers and advance social equity in China. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T23:42:19Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2c5d08e1fd6b437086b4c339d6863366 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-2565 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T23:42:19Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Public Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-2c5d08e1fd6b437086b4c339d68633662023-01-11T05:51:40ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Public Health2296-25652023-01-011010.3389/fpubh.2022.10712451071245Inverted U-shaped relationship between education and family health: The urban-rural gap in Chinese dual societyChangli Jia0Changli Jia1Yanwen Long2Xiaoxia Luo3Xiao Li4Wenjing Zuo5Yibo Wu6Taikang Medical School (School of Basic Medical Sciences), Wuhan University, Wuhan, ChinaSchool of Public Health, Global Health Institute, Wuhan University, Wuhan, ChinaInstitute of Education Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, ChinaSchool of Public Health, Global Health Institute, Wuhan University, Wuhan, ChinaSchool of Public Health, Global Health Institute, Wuhan University, Wuhan, ChinaTaikang Medical School (School of Basic Medical Sciences), Wuhan University, Wuhan, ChinaSchool of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing, ChinaIntroductionThe Healthy China Initiative emphasizes family health. Education is an upstream determinant of health, which can both achieve upward mobility and cause class solidification.MethodsUsing nationwide large-scale data collected in 2021, the present study explored the relationship between education and family health in the urban-rural dual society via Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition and propensity score matching.ResultsOur data revealed disparities in family health, educational attainment, household income, healthcare coverage, and job type between urban and rural China. An inverted U-shaped relationship existed between increasing years of education and family health. The upper limit was 17.1 years for urban residents and 13.7 years for rural residents, with limited health benefits from higher education obtained by rural residents. Mediated by work-family conflict, highly-educated people received gradually diminishing health returns. The results of the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition showed that 25.8% of the urban-rural gap in family health could be explained by the disparity in education. Urban residents could translate cultural capital and economic capital into health capital to a greater extent. After propensity score matching, a robust, inverted U-shaped relationship was found between education and family health. The inverted U-shaped relationship was found to replace family health with self-rated health and quality of life.DiscussionFamily-centered public health and education programs, policies, and goals should be developed to break urban-rural dual structure barriers and advance social equity in China.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2022.1071245/fullfamily healtheducationinverted U-shaped relationshipwork-family conflicturban-rural inequality |
| spellingShingle | Changli Jia Changli Jia Yanwen Long Xiaoxia Luo Xiao Li Wenjing Zuo Yibo Wu Inverted U-shaped relationship between education and family health: The urban-rural gap in Chinese dual society Frontiers in Public Health family health education inverted U-shaped relationship work-family conflict urban-rural inequality |
| title | Inverted U-shaped relationship between education and family health: The urban-rural gap in Chinese dual society |
| title_full | Inverted U-shaped relationship between education and family health: The urban-rural gap in Chinese dual society |
| title_fullStr | Inverted U-shaped relationship between education and family health: The urban-rural gap in Chinese dual society |
| title_full_unstemmed | Inverted U-shaped relationship between education and family health: The urban-rural gap in Chinese dual society |
| title_short | Inverted U-shaped relationship between education and family health: The urban-rural gap in Chinese dual society |
| title_sort | inverted u shaped relationship between education and family health the urban rural gap in chinese dual society |
| topic | family health education inverted U-shaped relationship work-family conflict urban-rural inequality |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2022.1071245/full |
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