Class Identity, Social Network, and Multidimensional Information Poverty of the Elderly People in China

Abstract

Information poverty affects the social integration and quality of life of the elderly people, and restricts the promotion of policies to actively respond to population ageing. Based on the Chinese General Social Survey 2017, this study used the binary logistic model for the empirical analysis of the impact of class identity, social network, and their interactions on the multidimensional information poverty of elderly people. Class identity intrinsically and positively affects information medium poverty, information acquisition poverty, and information use poverty of elderly people. Social networks as an external factor to promote the elderly people to escape from information cognition poverty, information medium poverty and information use poverty. Middle-aged and elderly women more likely exhibit poverty in information acquisition and use. However, the incidence of multidimensional information poverty is low in healthy elderly people. The increase of family income and the expansion of family size can inhibit the elderly information medium poverty; the better the family economic status, the more frequently the elderly people would use information. Class identity and social network have a substitutive effect on information cognition poverty of the elderly people and a complementary effect on information medium and use poverty in them. Class identity is the key factor affecting the information medium and use poverty of the rural elderly people, and social network has a more significant role in eliminating the information medium and use poverty of the urban elderly people. Measures such as improving the social elderly care service system will help the elderly people get rid of multi-dimensional information poverty and improve their quality of life.