Economic Gains with Social Pains: Migration Types and Their Consequences among Internal Migrants in China

bowen wang, Xi'an Jiaotong University
Zhongshan Yue, Xi’an Jiaotong University
Jian Yao, Xi'an Jiaotong University
Shuzhuo Li, Xi'an Jiaotong University

Over the past few decades, China has witnessed increased movement, greater migrant diversity, and more heterogeneous motivations. Distinctive forms of migration might associate with different socioeconomic consequences especially in terms of migrant integration outcomes. Our research is one of the few that empirically investigates migration types and their association with integration outcomes (assessed by income and sense of belonging to the host city) among internal migrants in China. Using 2017 China Migrant Dynamic Survey data and employing Latent Class Analysis, we identified three types of migration: Individual Short-Term Labor Migration (ISTL), First-time Family Migration (FFM), and Multiple Family Migration (MFM). For both rural-urban and urban-urban migrants, ISTL migrants had the highest income, while FFM migrants had the lowest income. In contrast, ISTL migrants had the lowest level of sense of belonging, while FFM had the highest levels of sense of belonging. Our findings suggest that migrants and migrant families might be often caught in a dilemma of a balance between economic returns and non-economic well-being.

Keywords: Internal Migration and Urbanization, Population and Development

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