Social Support and Elderly People’s Happiness in China: Evidence from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS)

To investigates the direct effect and indirect effect of three different types of social support on elderly people’s happiness, and to provide some suggestions for improvement. This descriptive and analytical study was carried out on 8,082 elderly who come from the CLHLS in 2018 dataset. Moreover, we conducted data analysis in 2 steps using multiple linear regression. The empirical results indicate that three dimensions of social support have a significantly positive effect on elderly people’s happiness. Furthermore, the indirect effect of family support and community support on elderly people’s happiness via the mental health is positive, while the indirect effect of relevant sector support on elderly people’s happiness via the mental health is not significant. Simultaneously, the indirect effect of social support on elderly people’s happiness via the physical health is also not significant. Social support has a considerable positive impact on happiness among elders. Thus, we suggested that an all-round, multi-level social support system should be developed to improve elderly people’s happiness.