Education, as an important aspect of human capital, not only affects the economic returns of an individual, but also affects non-economic returns. This paper uses data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) in 2014 and explores the impact of education on the health status of rural residents by using the family fixed-effect model. We find that education can improve the self-reported health status and reduce the possibility of depression of rural residents. We also find that the effect of education on self-reported health status of rural young people more significant than that of middle-aged and old people, but the effect on depression score was weaker than that of middle-aged and old people. Compared with the high-income group, education improved the health of the lowest income group more significantly. Finally, we explore the mechanism of education affecting the health of rural residents from a multi-dimensional perspective.
Keywords: education; mental health; rural labor force; self-reported health.