Rural-to-Urban Migrants’ Self-Rated Health in China: An Empirical Evaluation of the Effects of Access to Health Insurance and Work Arrangement

Zhen Li, University at Albany, State University of New York (SUNY)

Rural migrants’ health is an important issue with enduring implications for China. While the urban-rural divide imposed by China’s household registration system is held accountable for the health inequalities experienced by rural migrants, researches have identified two major immediate factors that are more directly related to their health status: access to health care and working conditions. Researchers have looked at several heath outcomes, such as female reproductive health and STDs. Taking advantage of a dataset that contains various measures on Chinese rural migrants' working, living and health conditions, this study systematically examines the effects of differential access to health care and working regimes on rural migrants' self-rated health. Expect for providing a window to look at how rural migrants fare in the cities, with health as an important resource rural migrants possess in the urban labor market, this study will help in understanding individuals’ prospects for future integration in cities.