The impact of long-term care insurance on the developmental resilience of families

As an important policy innovation to address the challenges of population aging, the long-term care insurance (LTCI) system provides an institutional mechanism to enhance families’ ability to withstand risks and adapt to changes through the socialized sharing of caregiving responsibilities. Using data from the 2013–2019 China Household Finance Survey, this paper systematically examines the pathways and mechanisms through which the pilot LTCI policy affects households’ developmental resilience, employing a difference-in-differences approach. The results show that the policy significantly improves households’ developmental resilience in pilot areas. Specifically, this improvement is reflected in decisions to establish new family businesses, in the enhancement of families’ risk management capabilities, and in the promotion of household asset accumulation. The effect is particularly pronounced among elderly families, families with low risk tolerance, and low-income households. This study provides empirical evidence for improving the LTCI system to support sustainable family development and offers policy implications for building a more resilient social governance system in an aging society.