Understanding the Health Capacity to Work among Older Persons in Rural and Urban Areas in the People’s Republic of China

Abstract

The People’s Republic of China is aging rapidly at one of the most rapid paces in the world. The resulting decline in the share of the population that is of working age creates challenges for both the economy and society, making it relevant to explore the health capacity to work among older persons. Using census data and data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, this paper applies two widely used methods to estimate the additional health capacity to work. The results confirm large untapped work capacity in the population of older persons, but the additional health capacity to work is unevenly distributed among different groups: Women and urban residents have more additional work capacity than men and older persons in rural areas. Pension systems and variation in types of work contribute to the urban–rural difference.