This study utilizes the longitudinal survey data to investigate the age group differences in the impact of changes in family structure on the mortality risk of rural older adults. The results show that ‘always being in a linear family’ significantly reduced the mortality risk of older adults. ‘Changing from a linear family to a one-person family or a conjugal nuclear family’ resultes in a decline of the mortality risk of the older adults under age 75 while lead to an increase after controlling the intergenerational support and health condition. It also increases the mortality risk of the older adults above age 75. ‘Changing from a one-person family or a conjugal nuclear family to a linear family’ significantly reduces the mortality risk of the older adults above age 75. The results reveal that Chinese society is in a period of transition and coexistence of traditional and relatively modern family structures. Changes in family structure based on respect and care for life that meet the multi-dimensional care needs of the older adults benefit the health and life expectancy of older adults. Supporting the health development of younger older people under the changes of family structure will also lead to better health conditions when they grow much older in the future, thus further promote the realization of a healthy aging society in China.

Drawing upon data from “Well-being of Elderly People in Anhui Province Survey” from 2001 to 2015，this paper explores the dynamic relationship between household composition change and elderly people’s subjective well being (self-rated health and life satisfaction).The results show that the influence of household composition change on the subjective well-being of the elderly depends on their age.For the younger-old age period of the elderly，the presence of grandchildren in household composition change has a positive impact on the subjective well-being of the elderly，whereas the household composition change in which elderly live alone or only live with their children，the subjective well-being of the elderly improves more slowly.For the oldest-old age period of the elderly，the five kinds of household composition change significantly deteriorates the development level of the subjective well-being of the elderly.The life satisfaction of the elderly shows a non-linear development with age.During the whole life-cycle of the elderly，the subjective concept，self-efficacy，and the family roles of elderly people differentiate the influence of household composition change on older people's subjective well-being，and the household composition change has selection effects on the older people’s health.