The Intergenerational Effects of Pension Receipt on Labour Mobility: Evidence From Rural China

ABSTRACT China's ageing rural population presents a significant challenge to the country's development. This article uses data from the 2013, 2015 and 2018 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study to examine how pension receipt of the elderly parents in rural China affects the labour mobility of their adult children. The estimation results from a fuzzy regression discontinuity design indicate that the pension receipt increases the labour mobility of adult children. The effects are more pronounced when the elderly parents have better health, have more living children and are both alive. Mechanism analysis indicates that pension receipt reduces regular financial transfers from adult children, but does not affect grandparental childcare for the adult children. This article reveals how a public pension programme affects the labour mobility of the younger generation and offers valuable insights for other developing countries facing similar challenges with an ageing population.