Party membership and self-assessed health: Evidence from the Communist Party of China

Background: In some countries, party membership is often associated with returns. We studied the relationship between party membership and self-assessed health. Methods: Data were obtained from the 2017 Chinese General Social Survey (N = 11,641). Self-assessed health was defined as the personal evaluation of physical and psychological well-being. Logistic regression was used to explore relevant associations. Results: Members of the Communist Party of China (CPC) were more likely than non-CPC respondents to register self-assessments of relatively healthy physical (beta = 0.319, SE = 0.098, P < 0.01, CI: 0.127-0.512) and psychological (beta = 0.257, SE = 0.072, P < 0.01, CI: 0.115-0.399) conditions. Conclusions: Previous studies have overlooked the health-related rewards of CPC membership. Reforms to China's public health system can be smoothly implemented probably because of the health benefits accrued to party members.