The paper examined the long-term care (LTC) preference of middle-aged and older adults in China by age-period-cohort ( APC) model through China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) from 2011 to 2018. It found that the preference of the middle-aged and elderly people for long-term care is mainly informal care, that is, they mainly rely on their spouses and adult children, which leads they being less likely to prefer other relatives and formal care. The age effect of long-term care preference presents an inverted U-shape for spouses, and positive U-shape for adult children. From the cohort dimension, the elderly born in the 1930s or before preferred the long-term care provided by their adult children, while the middle-aged and young elderly born in the 1940-1960s preferred the long-term care provided by their spouses. In terms of period dimension, due to the influence of filial piety concept and social policy, the long-term care preference of middle-aged and elderly people for spouses and adult children decreased first and then increased. The preference of long-term care for relatives did not change much, but increased slightly, and the preference for formal care was relatively stable. There is a substitution relationship between informal long-term care preference. The elderly aged 60-80 prefer their spouses to provide long-term care, while the elderly aged over 80 prefer their adult children to provide long-term care services. Men prefer their spouses to provide long-term care than women, and rural residents prefer their adult children to provide long-term care than urban residents. With the rapid growth of long-term care demand caused by China’s aging population, it is essential to understand the long-term care preference of the elderly and encourage informal care, so as to expand new ideas for more effective improvement of the long-term care service system in China
