Health disparity among older adults in Urban China: Does labor migration Matter?

Abstract

China has seen a surge in labor migration and widening regional health disparities among urban older residents since the late 1990. However, the relationship between labor migration and these disparities remains unknown. This study employs the shift-share instrument method to explore the association between labor migration and the self-rated health among urban older residents with the microdata from the 1% National Population Sample Survey (2005 and 2015) and provincial panel data (2010–2020). The results indicate that regions with higher net labor inflow exhibit improved average health levels and reduced health inequality among local older adults with varying socioeconomic statuses. Between 2010 and 2015, labor migration led to a 9.21 percentage point increase in the regional disparity of self-rated “healthy” probabilities among urban older residents. The key mechanism underlying these effects is the positive effects of labor migration on the wellbeing of certain group of urban older residents. The findings of this study suggest that social benefits access inequality between migrants and non-migrants, and the health disparities among urban older adults underscore broader structural inequality in China.