The paper Adult Children's Education and Older Parents' Chronic Illnesses in Aging China, co-authored by Associate Professor Ma Yuanyuan, a young faculty member of the Wenlan Business School and an IIDPF researcher, was published online in Demography, a leading demographic journal, with Associate Professor Ma as a corresponding author. Demography was founded in 1964 by the Population Association of America (PAA) and is considered one of the most prestigious journals in the field of demography.
Unlike previous studies that have focused on the intergenerational transfer of human capital from parents to children, this study focuses on the 'feed-back' intergenerational transfer of human capital from children to parents. Using nationally representative physician diagnostic and biomarker data, this paper examines the impact of adult child education on the health of older parents in China. Key findings were: adult children can help older parents better adapt to health/medical digitalisation, better diagnose, treat and manage chronic diseases; and can improve parental health behaviours and help parents better prevent chronic diseases. Meanwhile, there was a significant gender difference in this effect. Mothers benefit more from the education of their adult children than fathers; while there is no significant difference in the impact of sons and daughters in urban areas, in rural areas the education of sons is more beneficial to the health of parents.
Associate Professor Ma Yuanyuan's research interests are in health economics, population economics and development economics. Her research focuses on human capital accumulation in the context of population ageing, including the intergenerational transmission of human capital, education and health, health insurance and health service use, and health in old age. She has published a number of papers in national and international journals, including Journal of Health Economics, Health Economics, World Development, Population Space and Place, Economics & Human Biology.