Volume 43 - Article 49 | Pages 1429–1460  

Estimating rural–urban disparities in self-rated health in China: Impact of choice of urban definition

By Audrey Dorélien, Hongwei Xu

Abstract

Objective: We use the 2014 China Family Panel Studies (CFPS), which includes anchoring vignettes, to provide an up-to-date assessment of rural–urban health disparities as measured by self-rated health (SRH) in China. Our analysis is based on multiple definitions (hukou and the two different residence-based definitions) of rural–urban and migration status; previous research was inconclusive due to the use of different definitions and concerns about status-based differential health expectations (reporting heterogeneity).

Results: We find a nonlinear difference between rural and urban Chinese in how they self-assess health status, regardless of the urban definition used. Urban respondents do not always hold a higher standard for self-assessment of health. Instead, their rating styles depend on the level of latent health. After controlling for the reporting heterogeneity, we find on average a slight urban advantage in SRH, but it is most pronounced when using the statistical (density dependent) definition of urban.

Contribution: We study rural–urban health disparities based on three different urban definitions and migration status. Although we examine the urban definitions that are specific to China, we demonstrate a mindful approach when multiple definitions exist and caution against any simplistic approach that ignores context-specific urban definition. We also provide clear illustrations of the different types of reporting heterogeneity, as well as a way to visualize the cut-points, thresholds, and latent health estimates.

Author's Affiliation

Other articles by the same author/authors in Demographic Research

Proximity to mother over the life course in the United States: Overall patterns and racial differences
Volume 45 - Article 23

Birth seasonality in Sub-Saharan Africa
Volume 34 - Article 27

Exploring the meaning of context for health: Community influences on child health in South India
Volume 24 - Article 15

Most recent similar articles in Demographic Research

Between money and intimacy: Brideprice, marriage, and women’s position in contemporary China
Volume 50 - Article 46    | Keywords: brideprice, China, divorce, family, family law, gender inequalities, marriage

Moving towards gender equality in China: The influence of migration experiences on rural migrants’ gender role attitudes
Volume 49 - Article 14    | Keywords: China, culture, gender attitudes, gender roles, rural-urban migration

The role of premarital cohabitation in the timing of first birth in China
Volume 45 - Article 8    | Keywords: childbearing, childlessness, China, cohabitation, demographic transition, fertility, timing

A potential new pattern of pathway to adulthood is emerging in China
Volume 44 - Article 42    | Keywords: China, life course, sequence analysis, state policies, transition to adulthood

Recent trends in the Chinese family: National estimates from 1990 to 2010
Volume 44 - Article 25    | Keywords: childbearing, China, cohabitation, divorce, families, marriage, second demographic transition, social change