2.2. Demographic Indicators

In order to avoid misclassification of individuals in rural and urban areas, we combined the information on Hukou registration with information on actual residence. Respondents who have rural Hukou registration (agricultural household) and live in rural areas were identified as rural respondents. Respondents who have urban Hukou registration (non-agricultural household) and live in urban areas were considered as urban respondents. Two additional groups were identified with discordant Hukou registration and residence. Age was divided into age groups: 60–64, 65–69, 70–74, 75–79, 80–84, 85–89, and 90+ years. Marital status was dichotomized into married and unmarried (i.e., widowed, never married, divorced, or separated). Living arrangement was categorized into living alone or not living alone. In CHARLS, respondents were asked whether they had a child who lives in the same city or county. Respondents co-residing with a child, or whose child lived in the same city or county were defined as “living near children”. Respondents with children not co-residing or living in the same city or county were defined as “not living near children”. Respondents with no children were categorized as “no child”.