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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Health Economics
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1402191

Household health expenditure does not improve people's subjective well-being in China

Provisionally accepted
Weiwei Wang Weiwei Wang 1Yan Sun Yan Sun 2*GEN LI GEN LI 1Yingde Tang Yingde Tang 3,4
  • 1 School of Economics and Management, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, zhenjiang, China
  • 2 College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang, China
  • 3 Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu Province, China
  • 4 College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, lanzhou, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Household health expenditure plays a crucial role in the daily spending of individuals. Meanwhile, the attention of the public to subjective well-being (SWB) is constantly increasing in China. Household health expenditure could reduce real family income, harming personal SWB. However, the aim of household health expenditure is to improve the physical condition of an individual, and improvements in individual health could enhance personal SWB. Therefore, the effect of household health expenditure on personal SWB is uncertain; hence, it is essential to assess the effects of household health expenditure on the SWB of Chinese residents. Methods: The Chinese family panel studies database from 2016 to 2020 was applied in this study. A fixed effects model was used to examine the impact of household medical and health protection expenses on personal SWB. Fixed effects instrumental variable regression and propensity score matching were then used to conduct robustness testing. Results: On the basis of a fixed effects model, it was found that household medical and health protection expenditure did not improve the happiness and life satisfaction of individuals; rather, household health protection expenditure could significantly reduce personal happiness. Fixed effects instrumental variable regression and propensity score matching analysis supported these results. Household health protection expenditure had a greater negative impact on the happiness and life satisfaction of females compared with males. Conclusion: Household health expenditure does not improve the SWB of individuals in China; this has certain significance for the formulation of relevant policies.

    Keywords: Medical expenses, Health protection expenses, Subjective well-being, Chinese family panel studies, China

    Received: 17 Mar 2024; Accepted: 30 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Wang, Sun, LI and Tang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Yan Sun, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.