Table 5 Internal Migrants’ Social Integration in 2014
From: The social income inequality, social integration and health status of internal migrants in China
Variables | Definition | Options | % or −x ± s |
|---|---|---|---|
Monthly household income | Income of all family members in the current residence | 3500-7000a | |
Income, occupation position, and degree of respect compared with relatives, friends and colleagues at current residence | Subjective social status and level of respect compared to other people, measured by marking a “social ladder” (1 as the bottom status to 10 as the top status) | 5.47 ± 1.60 | |
5.98 ± 1.60 | |||
Old-age insurance | Own either township workers’ old-age insurance, urban residents’ old-age insurance, or new rural social pension insurance | no | 27.7 |
yes | 72.3 | ||
Medical insurance | Own either social medical insurance or commercial medical insurance | no | 14.8 |
yes | 85.2 | ||
Number of organizations participated in (0–8) | Number of organizations respondents participated in, including labor union, volunteer associations, the Chinese Communist Party group of migrants/local residents, alumni association, chamber of commerce of hometown, fellow-townsman associations, and other organizations | 0.40 ± 0.77 | |
Number of activities attended (0–7) | Number of activities respondents attended, for example, community sports, social public welfare activities, election campaigns, awards events, the home owners’ committee, management activities of residents’ committees, and other activities | 0.66 ± 1.04 | |
Type of neighbors | Whether neighbors of respondents were registered residents, whohad “Hukou”, or migrants | Outsiders | 43.5 |
The locals | 20.6 | ||
Outsiders and locals | 29.5 | ||
Not sure | 6.4 | ||
Consent of the views (8–40) | Those views include 7 problems about social norms or customs: 1) The customs of the hometown (such as the customs of marriage, funerals) is more important to you; 2) Working in the current place is more important to you than living in the hometown; 3) Your child should learn to speak the hometown dialect; 4) Maintaining the hometown’s lifestyle, such as eating habits, is important; 5) There is a big difference in health habits between you and local residents; 6) There is a big discrepancy in clothing, education, or retirement style between you and local residents; 7) Your opinions of some social issues are very distinct from the local residents’. Respondents provided their agreement with these views based on a five-point scale (strongly agree, agree, neither agree or not, disagree, strongly disagree). | 23.80 ± 4.09 | |
Familiarity with local dialect | Proficiency in the local language | Don’t understand | 14.9 |
Understand some only | 23.0 | ||
Understand and speak some | 22.7 | ||
Understand and speak | 39.4 | ||
Integration will (9–36) | Consists of 9 questions, such as, “I would like to live together with locals in a block (community)”, “I would like to be a colleague with locals”, and “I would like to be a neighbor with locals”. Respondents answered based on a four-point scale (1 = disagree completely to 4 = agree completely), with the higher score meaning better integration will. | 30.43 ± 4.28 | |
Discrimination perception (4–16) | Includes 4 questions: “I feel the locals are willing to accept me as a part of them,” “I feel the locals don’t want to be my neighbors,” “I feel the locals don’t like me,” and “I feel the locals look down on me” (1 = disagree completely to 4 = agree completely), with higher score meaning more discrimination perception. | 7.34 ± 2.16 | |
Willingness to bring family members to local residence | Whether to bring the subject’s spouse, unmarried children, or parents to local residence in the next 1 to 3 years | All of family members at location | 26.6 |
Yes | 23.6 | ||
Yes, but only some | 14.1 | ||
No | 30.7 | ||
Not sure | 4.9 |