Table 1.
Descriptive Characteristics of the CHARLS Sample
| Variables | M | SD |
|---|---|---|
| Cognitive functioning (0–20) | ||
| 2011 | 7.08 | 3.45 |
| 2013 | 7.07 | 3.57 |
| 2015 | 6.53 | 3.65 |
| Childhood friendship experiences (0–3) | 0.71 | 0.87 |
| Adult social disconnectedness (0–6) | 3.25 | 0.71 |
| Adult loneliness (1–4) | 1.50 | 0.74 |
| Age (45–100) | 58.73 | 9.43 |
| Female (%) | 51.77 | |
| Married (%) | 83.55 | |
| Education (%) | ||
| Illiterate | 25.84 | |
| Less than high school | 61.08 | |
| High school and above | 13.08 | |
| Current agricultural hukou status (%) | 77.08 | |
| Income (yuan, 0–2,160,000) | 3,985.83 | 22,248.44 |
| Occupation (%) | ||
| Nonworking | 48.03 | |
| Agricultural job | 20.65 | |
| Nonagricultural job | 31.32 | |
| Vigorous physical activity (%) | 14.74 | |
| Ever smoked (%) | 39.82 | |
| Ever had stroke (%) | 2.61 | |
| Obese (BMI > 30) (%) | 5.04 | |
| Childhood SES (1–5, %) | 3.54 | 0.97 |
| A lot better off than them | 1.00 | |
| Somewhat better off than them | 7.96 | |
| Same as them | 51.34 | |
| Somewhat worse off than them | 15.86 | |
| A lot worse off than them | 23.84 | |
| Childhood health status (1–5, %) | 2.66 | 1.01 |
| Much healthier | 16.61 | |
| Somewhat healthier | 18.96 | |
| About average | 51.67 | |
| Somewhat less healthy | 7.84 | |
| Much less healthy | 4.92 | |
| Childhood agricultural hukou status (%) | 81.43 | |
| Father illiterate (%) | 59.71 | |
| Mother illiterate (%) | 89.85 |
Notes. Sample N = 13,959. BMI = body mass index; CHARLS = China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study; SES = socioeconomic status.