China has built a social medical insurance system that covers the entire population so as to reduce the impact of diseases on individuals and families. Although the decline in the incidence of catastrophic health expenditures (CHEs) in China is encouraging, this issue remains important. On the basis of considering selectivity bias and heterogeneity, we applied propensity score matching (PSM) to analyze the 2018 data from the China Family Panel Studies. We assigned CHE households and non-CHE households to the treatment group and the control group, respectively, and used non-random data to simulate a randomized trial to investigate the impact of CHE on household consumption in China. The results of this study indicate that, when the threshold is set at 40%, the consumption of households experiencing CHEs (CHE household) is significantly lower than that of households not experiencing CHEs (non-CHE households) and that CHEs have a significant negative impact on other household consumption and a significant impact on the household property and debt. This effect still exists when the threshold is set lower, with household essential consumption most affected. The occurrence of CHEs leads to a reduction in household consumption and a significantly worsening financial situation for the CHE households, impacting the basic quality of life of the families. Therefore, it is necessary to further reform the medical and health system to reduce the high medical expenses.

This paper, taking the middle-aged and elderly parents in rural families of China as the subject, studies the impact of children’s education on parents’ dietary nutrient intake. After analyzing the data in China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) 2011, this study discovers that China’s rural children’s higher educational level exerts a significant positive impact on the improvement of parents’ food consumption, nutrient intake and diet quality. This indicates that the improvement of rural education can be an effective approach to increase dietary nutrient intake of China’s rural population. The policy implication of this study is to further develop rural basic education, consolidate the coverage of compulsory education, and incorporate nutrition education into national education system.

Background: After 40 years of reform and opening-up, China's social and economic conditions have undergone tremendous changes. For individuals who have experienced this historical period, the socioeconomic transition has brought different effects on their health status. This research examines the issue and provides evidence that government policies need to be improved. Methods: This study adopted data from the 2015 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). We set the education level, occupation, and family income during old age as the socioeconomic status for the early, middle, and late stages of life. Based on specific criteria, we classified the population as disadvantaged and advantaged, considering eight changing trajectories of socioeconomic status. We used multiple regression analysis to examine how the eight trajectories affect individuals' physical and mental health. Results: After controlling for social demography and health behavior variables, we found that compared with those in the advantaged group long term, people who were in the disadvantaged group suffered from a significantly negative impact of their socioeconomic status on physical and mental health. The health status of those who moved upward in socioeconomic status was substantially better than those who remained in the same status. Conclusion: This study confirms that early disadvantaged socioeconomic status has a long-term adverse effect on health. However, the negative impact can be mitigated by improving one’s occupation during middle age or family income during old age throughout China's socioeconomic transitions. Therefore, increasing upward social mobility at any stage helps eliminate health inequalities.