教育对健康的影响及其作用机制研究——基于中国家庭追踪调查的实证分析

Objective: Exploring the impact and analyze the mechanism of individual educational level on health. Methods: Based on the data of China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) in 2020, we used the Logit model and linear regressions to analyze whether education levels affect individual health, and used the mediation effect analysis to explore the specific mechanism. Results: years of education had a significant positive effect on individual physical discomfort, self-rated health and mental health. However, more years of schooling showed insignificant influence among individuals with more than 12 years of schooling. The mediating effect analysis showed that, taking smoking and exercising, which represent health behaviors, and income, which represents budget constraints, as proxies, the effect of education on health is mediated through health behavior and budget constraint. Conclusions: Higher education positively affects individual health, but this effect is mainly found among individual with primary and secondary education. Individuals with more years of schooling tend to have healthier behavior and more income. The results support the positive impact of primary and secondary education expansion policies on health.