title: Relocation and Social Support Among Older Adults in Rural China.
abstract: China's economic reforms have led to millions of citizens being relocated to support infrastructure development, reduce poverty, and address ecological, disaster-related and other concerns. This study expands on previous research on the implications of relocation in China by examining the impact of rural elders' relocation on the perceived availability of emotional, instrumental, and financial support.
  
  
  
  Data were drawn from the Ankang Study of Aging and Health conducted with a representative sample of 1,062 rural residents aged 60 and over living in Ankang, China. Two-stage probit and least squares regression models assessed the impact of relocation on familial and nonfamilial emotional, instrumental, and financial support.
  
  
  
  Relocation was negatively associated with the number of social support resources that older adults perceived as being available. Although this was the case with regard to both familial and nonfamilial support, it was particularly evident with regard to family support and, within families, with regard to instrumental rather than financial or emotional support.
  
  
  
  Relocation has negative implications for the number of social support resources perceived to be available by older adults in rural China. China will need to come to terms with how to provide for the instrumental support needs of an aging society.
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology, University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. zhengwu@uvic.ca.
authors.forename: Zheng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology, University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
authors.forename: Margaret J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Penning
authors.affiliation: Center for Aging and Health Studies, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Shaanxi, China.
authors.forename: Weihong
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.affiliation: Center for Aging and Health Studies, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Shaanxi, China.
authors.forename: Shuzhuo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology and Centre on Aging, University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
authors.forename: Neena L
authors.initials: NL
authors.lastname: Chappell
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D063426:Human Migration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012944:Social Support
keywords: Aging; China; Relocation; Rural; Social support