Differences in the health-age profile across rural and urban sectors: a study on migrants and non-migrants in China

Abstract

Objectives: The objective of this study is to examine age-health differentials between migrants and non-migrants in the context of migration in China.

Study design: We use nationally representative data from the China Labor-force Dynamics Survey to analyze the relationship between age and health across different migration status groups.

Methods: We used a comprehensive measure of perceived health from factor analysis and structural equation models to take multiple dimensions of subjective health into consideration.

Results: We found a difference in the association between age and health (net of controls) at age 46 years and above but not for younger age groups. That is, there is a health disadvantage between those who had ever migrated and urban non-migrants in older adulthood but not for young adulthood. However, the age-health profile of rural ever-migrants is not different from that of rural non-migrants.

Conclusions: These results highlight the effect of migration on health at different ages, which reflects the toll that migration takes on health over time. Our results imply that researchers should take into consideration life stages when examining the migration-health nexus. We also argue that there are potential influences related to China's longstanding division between rural and urban sectors.

Keywords: Ages; China; Cumulative disadvantage; Health; Life stages; Migration.