两代教育对农村老年人抑郁的影响

The Impact of Two Generations of Education on Depression among Elderly People in Rural Areas

文章基于“安徽省农村老年人生活福利状况”2001~2018年的7期专项追踪数据,采用个体增长模型及广义结构方程模型研究两代教育对农村老年人抑郁的影响及其路径。研究发现:第一,老年人教育和子女教育均显著降低农村老年人的抑郁程度,且子女最高受教育年限部分解释了老年人教育对其抑郁程度的影响。第二,两代教育对农村老年人抑郁程度的影响具有年龄组差异,即农村老年人教育仅降低低龄组老年人的抑郁程度,在纳入子女教育变量后,农村老年人获得经济支持仅显著降低中低龄组老年人的抑郁程度,农村老年人获得情感支持显著降低全年龄组老年人的抑郁程度。第三,经济支持和情感支持是两代教育影响农村老年人抑郁程度的内在根源,老年人教育会影响子女教育,进而引起子女向上代际支持的变化,最终影响农村老年人的抑郁程度,且子女代际支持与子女数之间存在替代效应。基于此,文章提出以下建议:第一,关注农村教育滞后性问题,重视农村子女成才教育,教育资源适当向弱势家庭倾斜,保障农村子女高等教育的可达性。第二,针对不同年龄组老年人的需求,采取相应的措施,以增加中低龄组老年人获得经济支持和全年龄组老年人获得情感支持的来源。第三,重视家庭养老功能,出台相关政策促进子女提供代际支持,制定税收优惠政策鼓励子女给予父母经济支持,提供购房或租房优惠政策鼓励子女与父母同住,进而提高代际间的情感支持。

The article is based on seven special tracking data from 2001 to 2018 on the living and welfare status of el⁃derly people in rural areas of Anhui Province.The individual growth model and generalized structural equation model are used to study the impact and pathways of two generations of education on depression among elderly people in rural areas.Research has found that,firstly,both elderly education and children's education significantly reduce the level of depression among rural elderly people,and the highest years of education for children partially explains the impact of elderly education on their level of depression.Secondly,there is an age group difference in the impact of two genera⁃tions of education on the level of depression among rural elderly people.That is,rural elderly education only reduces the level of depression among younger elderly people.After incorporating the variable of children's education,rural el⁃derly people only receive economic support,which significantly reduces the level of depression among middle-aged and younger elderly people.Rural elderly people receive emotional support,which significantly reduces the level of de⁃pression among all age groups.Thirdly,economic and emotional support are the inherent roots of the impact of two gen⁃erations of education on the level of depression among rural elderly people.Elderly education can affect children's edu⁃cation,leading to changes in intergenerational support for children and ultimately affecting the level of depression among rural elderly people.There is a substitution effect between intergenerational support for children and the number of children.Based on this,the article proposes the following suggestions:Firstly,pay attention to the lagging issue of rural education,attach importance to the education of rural children's growth,appropriately tilt educational resources towards vulnerable families,and ensure the accessibility of higher education for rural children.Secondly,correspond⁃ing measures should be taken to meet the needs of elderly people in different age groups,in order to increase the sourc⁃es of economic support for middle and young age groups and emotional support for all age groups.Thirdly,we should at⁃tach importance to the elderly care function of families,introduce relevant policies to promote intergenerational support for children,formulate tax incentives to encourage children to provide financial support to their parents,and provide preferential policies for purchasing or renting houses to encourage children to live with their parents,thereby improving intergenerational emotional support.