Does the targeted poverty alleviation program improve the subjective well-being of poor households? Empirical evidence from China

Enhancing the subjective well-being of poor households is crucial for the world’s sustainable development. Using a comprehensive household-level dataset from the China Household Finance Survey (CHFS) spanning 2011 to 2019, this study employed a multi-period difference-in-differences (DID) approach to systematically identify the causal effect and underlying mechanisms of the Targeted Poverty Alleviation (TPA) program on the subjective well-being of poverty-stricken households. Then it explored the heterogeneous effects of different assistance measures on their subjective well-being. We found that the TPA program significantly improves the subjective well-being of rural poor households after a series of robustness checks. The analysis indicated that the TPA program improves the happiness of poor households by reducing their relative poverty and promoting their labor participation to eliminate poverty. We found that providing basic public services, means of agricultural production, and communication infrastructure all enhance the positive impact of TPA on happiness, while the housing relocation program, transportation infrastructure investment, and agricultural technical support do not. The conclusions of this study have important policy implications for ensuring equitable access to basic public services, consolidating the effective link between poverty alleviation achievements and rural revitalization in the post-poverty era, thereby promoting the common prosperity of rural households.