To Go or Not to Go: A Quantitative Gendered Analysis of Health, Subjective Socioeconomic Status, and Well-Being Outcomes Among Rural-to-Urban Migrants in China

Abstract

Economic changes and hukou reforms have significantly increased rural-to-urban migration in China, yet the differing experiences of female and male migrants remain largely unexplored. This thesis examines how migration affects various health, subjective socioeconomic status, and well-being outcomes, comparing migrants to non-migrants. Using a nationally representative longitudinal dataset from 2010 to 2020, I apply fixed effect counterfactual estimators and entropy balance difference-in-differences methodologies to study both long-term effects and short-term, year-dependent changes. My analysis reveals that male migrants experience stronger negative health impacts from migration than female migrants. The findings highlight differences in the migration experience between male migrants and female migrants relative to their respective non-migrant counterparts. Furthermore, while short-term effects of migration on health, subjective socioeconomic, and well-being vary by treatment year, I find suggestive evidence that the long-term effects of migration for migrants is, on average, worse than non-migrants. Taken together, these findings suggest that migration in China provides for little upward mobility for migrants, and policies in urban areas should prioritize improving welfare and support mechanisms to better integrate migrants into urban societies.