This study investigates associations between internal migration and health among middle-aged and older adults in China, including variations associated with type of migration (rural-to-urban, urban-to-rural, rural-to-rural, urban-to-urban). Data were drawn from China’s Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (2011, 2013, 2015). Lagged panel and fixed-effect regression models address associations between migration and health outcomes (self-rated health, depression) while controlling for pre-migration and post-migration selection effects. The results reveal the positive implications of rural-to-urban migration for the self-rated health of middle-aged but not older adults. They also point to the positive effects of migration within and to rural areas for the self-rated and mental health of older adults. Overall, although migration may be beneficial to the health of internal migrants in China, complexities associated with age, type of migration, and the health outcome involved need to be taken into account.
ChenJ. (2011). Internal migration and health: Re-examining the healthy migrant phenomenon in China. Social Science & Medicine, 72(8), 1294–1301. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.02.016
4.
ChengS. T.ChanA. C. M. (2005). The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale in older Chinese: Thresholds for long and short forms. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 20(5), 465–470. https://doi.org/10.1002/gps.1314
5.
Department of Services and Management of Migrant Population, National Population and Family Planning Commission of China. (2016). Report on China’s migration population development. China Population Publishing House.
6.
DouX.LiuY. (2017). Elderly migration in China: Types, patterns, and determinants. Journal of Applied Gerontology, 36(6), 751–771. https://doi.org/10.1177/0733464815587966
7.
GoodkindD.WestL. A. (2002). China’s floating population: Definitions, data and recent findings. Urban Studies, 39(12), 2237–2250. https://doi.org/10.1080/0042098022000033845
8.
GubernskayaZ. (2014). Age at migration and self-rated health trajectories after age 50: Understanding the older immigrant health paradox. Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 70(2), 279–290. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbu049
9.
HouB.NazrooJ.BanksJ.MarshallA. (2019). Impacts of migration on health and well-being in later life in China: Evidence from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). Health & Place, 58, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2019.01.003
10.
LiL.WangH.YeX.JiangM.LouQ.HeskethT. (2007). The mental health status of Chinese rural-urban migrant workers. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 42(9), 716–722. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-007-0221-0
11.
LiX.StantonB.ChenX.HongY.FangX.LinD.MaoRWangJ. (2006). Health indicators and geographic mobility among young rural-to-urban migrants in China. World Health and Population, 8(2), 5–21. https://doi.org/10.12927/whp.2006.18148
12.
LiX.StantonB.FangX.XiongQ.YuS.LinD.HongY.ZhangL.ChenX.WangB. (2009). Mental health symptoms among rural-to-urban migrants in China: A comparison with their urban and rural counterparts. World Health and Population, 11(1), 24–38. https://doi.org/10.12927/whp.2009.20868
LinY.ZhangQ.ChenW.ShiJ.HanS.SongX.XuY.LingL. (2016). Association between Social integration and health among internal migrants in ZhongShan, China. PLoS ONE, 11(2), e0148397. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0148397
LuY. (2008). Test of the ‘healthy migrant hypothesis’: A longitudinal analysis of health selectivity of internal migration in Indonesia. Social Science & Medicine, 67(8), 1331–1339. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2008.06.017
LuY.QinL. (2014). Healthy migrant and salmon bias hypotheses: A study of health and internal migration in China. Social Science & Medicine, 102, 41–48. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2013.11.040
20.
MarkidesK.RoteS. (2019). The healthy immigrant effect and aging in the United States and other Western countries. The Gerontologist, 59(2), 205–214. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gny136
21.
NaumanE.VanlandinghamM.AnglewiczP.PatthavanitU.PunpuingS. (2015). Rural-to-urban migration and changes in health among young adults in Thailand. Demography, 52(1), 233–257. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13524-014-0365-y
22.
QiuP.CaineE.YangY.ChenQ.LiJ.MaX. (2011). Depression and associated factors in internal migrant workers in China. Journal of Affective Disorders, 134(1–3), 198–207. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2011.05.043
23.
RadloffL. S. (1977). The CES-D scale: A self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Applied Psychological Measurement, 1(3), 385–401. https://doi.org/10.1177/014662167700100306
24.
RaudenbushS. W.YosefY. M. (2000). Maximum likelihood for generalized linear models with nested random effects via high-order, multivariate laplace approximation. Journal of Computational and Graphical Statistics, 9(1), 141–157. https://doi.org/10.1080/10618600.2000.10474870
25.
RubalcavaL. N.TeruelG. M.ThomasD.GoldmanN. (2008). The healthy migrant effect: New findings from the Mexican family life survey. American Journal of Public Health, 98(1), 78–84. https://doi.org/10.2105/ajph.2006.098418
26.
ShawR. P. (1975). Migration theory and fact. Bibliography series No. 5. Regional Science Research Institute.
27.
SongQ. (2017). Aging and separation from children: The health implications of adult migration for elderly parents in rural China. Demographic Research, 37(55), 1762–1790. https://doi.org/10.4054/DemRes.2017.37.55
28.
TongYPiotrowskiM. (2012). Migration and health selectivity in the context of internal migration in China, 1997-2009. Population Research and Policy Review, 31(4), 497–543. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11113-012-9240-y
29.
WangH.ZhangD.HouZ.YanF.HouZ. (2018). Association between social health insurance and choice of hospitals among internal migrants in China: A national cross-sectional study. BMJ Open, 8, e018440. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2017-018440
WuZ.PenningM. JZengW.LiS.ChappellN. L. (2016). Relocation and social support among older adults in rural China. Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 71(6), 1108–1119. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbu187
33.
XueL.WangM. Y.XueT. (2013). ‘Voluntary’ poverty alleviation resettlement in China. Development and Change, 44, 1559–1580. https://doi.org/10.1111/dech.12054
34.
YangM.DijstM.HelbichM. (2018). Mental health among migrants in Shenzhen, China: Does it matter whether the migrant population is identified by hukou or birthplace?International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 15, 2671. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15122671
35.
YiY.LiaoY.ZhengL.LiM.GuJ.HaoC.HaoY. (2019). Health selectivity and rural-urban migration in China: A nationwide multiple cross-sectional study in 2012, 2014, 2016. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16, 1596. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16091596
36.
ZhangX.YuB.HeT.WangP. (2018). Status and determinants of health services utilization among elderly migrants in China. Global Health Research and Policy, 3(8), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41256-018-0064-0
37.
ZhaoY.StraussJ.YangG.GilesJ.HuP.HuY.LeiX.LiuM.ParkA.SmithJ. P.WangY. (2013). China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study-2011-2012 national baseline user’s guide. China Center for Economic Research, Peking University.
38.
ZhaoY.WangY.ChenX.MengQ.TangY.ZhangT.LiangC.HouD.LiuX.ZhangX.SongZ.MaoS.ZhangW.BoH. (2019). China Health and Retirement Report(in Chinese). CHARLS Research Team, Peking University.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
