The Changes of Disability-free Life Expectancy of Chinese Elderly：A Gender-based Disparity Analysis

Based on 1% National Population Sample Survey in 2005 and the Sixth Census in 2010, using life table technique and Sullivan method, we analyze the changes of life expectancy (LE), disability free life expectancy (DFLE), and their disparity among Chinese male and female elderly. The results show that female elderly have higher LE than their male counterparts, and gender disparity in LE decrease with age; the gender disparity in DFLE decrease with age in lower age, the male elderly have higher DFLE than their counterparts in higher age. The comparison indicates that gender disparity in LE of Chinese elderly is expanding in lower age, and that in DFLE of Chinese elderly is expanding in each age. The proportion of DFLE in LE of male is higher than female, however, unlike the findings from previous research, our research results indicate that the proportion of DFLE in LE is increasing and the increasing speed of DFLE/LE is higher among female elderly than that among male elderly at all age stage between 2005 and 2010.