# The spillover effects of formal social support on vulnerability to poverty among rural older adult households: a risk ‘shock-response’ perspective

## TL;DR

This study explores how formal social support reduces poverty vulnerability in rural Chinese older households and finds it has spillover effects that vary by region.

## Contribution

The paper introduces a 'shock-response' framework to analyze formal social support's spillover effects and regional differences in poverty vulnerability.

## Key findings

- Formal social support significantly reduces poverty vulnerability in rural older adult households.
- Formal support encourages non-economic support from family and neighbors.
- Spillover effects are weaker in Northeast China compared to other regions.

## Abstract

Mitigating vulnerability to poverty among rural older adult households remains a critical challenge for developing countries striving to achieve poverty reduction goals. While the role of formal social support in alleviating rural poverty is recognized, the specific mechanisms through which it mitigates vulnerability among rural older adult households have not been sufficiently explored.

Using longitudinal data from the 2018–2022 waves of the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS), this study examines how formal social support affects the vulnerability to poverty among rural older adult households from a risk “shock-response” perspective. We categorize formal social support into preventive social support (PSS), risk mitigation social support (MSS), and safety net social support (SSS), while further investigating its spillover effects and regional heterogeneity.

(1) formal social support significantly reduces vulnerability to poverty among rural older adult households; (2) a positive spillover effect exists, wherein formal social support fosters non-economic support provided by adult children and neighbors; and (3) this spillover effect exhibits significant regional heterogeneity, being notably weaker in Northeast China compared to other regions.

These findings underscore the criticality of understanding formal support mechanisms to optimize social support systems and refine poverty reduction governance. Particularly in the context of population mobility, these insights are vital for alleviating vulnerability to poverty among rural older adult households in China and addressing broader challenges of rural poverty in developing countries.