“老来得子”幸福吗?——农村地区大龄生子与心理健康分析

A Study on the Mental Health of Older Fertility Group in Rural Area

从生育行为主体出发、基于子女性别结构,利用2013年中国社会综合调查(CGSS)数据,分析了大龄生子群体的心理健康状况。初步研究发现,大龄生子群体的心理健康低于非大龄生子群体,"老来得子"忧大于喜;"38岁前仅生女、38岁及以后生子"群体的心理健康低于"38岁前已生子、38岁及以后生子/女"群体。这说明,男孩偏好下的"老来得子"并不必然提高心理健康;生育作为复杂的人口事件,子女数量、子女性别以及生育年龄等均成为心理健康的扰动因素。

Based on the sex structure of children, from the perspective of fertility agents, this paper studies the mental health of individuals within mid-late fertility stage using the CGSS 2013 data. According to the primary analysis, older fertility group shows lower level of mental health compared to younger group, which means that giving birth in later stage might be of worse mental health status. And the group of“individuals who have no son before 38 and give birth to son at/after 38” shows lower mental health status than the group of“individuals who have son before 38 and give birth to son/daughter at/after 38”. This might imply that giving birth in later stage under background of son-preference does not necessarily improve one-s wellbeing, and that as fertility is a complex demographic behavior, the number of children, sex, the age of birth-giving individual may pose impact on mental health.