Older people in China: their health and the roles of social capital and household income inequality

China is fast becoming an ageing society and this is raising important issues for public health. This study employs nationally representative datasets, the China General Social Surveys and the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, to investigate the relationship between different health outcomes and social capital among older people in China (45 and over). First, the analysis uses binary logistic regression to confirm a significant positive association between subjective measures of individual health and wellbeing and individual-level social capital (measured by social trust, social interaction and membership of organisations and social groups). Second, the analysis combines Difference-In-Difference and Propensity Score Matching to simulate a quasi-experiment designed to identify the causal relationship between social capital and objective health (measured by cognitive function, mental health and physical health). Third, the analysis uses a multilevel modelling strategy to investigate the interrelationships between income inequality, community-level social capital, individual-level social capital and health outcomes. This part of the analysis finds evidence that social capital at the community-level can reduce to some extent the negative association between income inequality and health. Together, the results provide new evidence of the relationship between health, social capital and the distribution of household wealth among older people in China