Better Choice, Better Health? Social Integration and Health Inequality among International Migrants in Hangzhou, China.

Xiaoguang Fan,Wei Yan,Fei Yan

doi:10.3390/ijerph17134787

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of social integration and socioeconomic status on immigrant health in China. Taking the framework of social determinants of health (SDH) as the theoretical starting point, this paper uses the Hangzhou sample of the 2018 Survey of Foreigners in China (SFRC2018) to explore two core factors affecting the health inequality of international migrants in China: the level of social integration following settlement, and socioeconomic status before and after coming to China. The results show that having a formal educational experience in China helped improve both the self-rated health status and self-assessed change in health of international migrants; that the socioeconomic status of an emigrant’s home country affected self-rated health; and that the self-assessed change in health of immigrants from developing countries was significantly higher than those from developed countries. This study concludes that the health inequalities of immigrant populations in China must be understood in the context of China’s specific healthcare system and treatment structure.

Highlights

International migration has always been an important global issue, closely related to the political, economic, and social development of society
Our results demonstrate that having a formal educational experience in China helps promote immigrant integration and adaptation to the local society and improves both self-rated health status and self-assessed change in health of international migrants; that the socioeconomic status of an emigrant’s home country affects self-rated health; and that immigrants from developing countries tend to perceive more improved health status than those from developed countries
The results show that more than 60% (61.6%) of the foreigners surveyed said that they were in excellent health; 85.3% of the foreigners surveyed thought that their health condition had either stayed the same or had improved after coming to China, while less than 15% (14.7%) of the foreigners surveyed thought that their health condition had worsened

Summary

Introduction

International migration has always been an important global issue, closely related to the political, economic, and social development of society. International migration in China, the world’s second largest economy, has attracted widespread attention from the Chinese government and academia. The sixth census showed that in 2010 there were 593,800 foreign residents from 129 countries and regions in China who came for business, employment, study, and settlement [1]. The sample included foreigners and residents of Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan who had resided in or were expected to reside in mainland China for more than three months; those living in mainland China for shorter periods on business or through tourism were not included. (See http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjsj/pcsj/rkpc/6rp/indexch.htm.) The United Nations estimated that one million foreigners were living in China in 2017, an increase of 22,000 from 2015 [2]. Based on the author’s calculations, of those sampled, 134,900 (22.72%) came for employment; because there is no strict distinction between the working-age population and the non-working-age population, there is some theoretical underestimation of these statistics. (See http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjsj/pcsj/rkpc/6rp/indexch.htm.) The United Nations estimated that one million foreigners were living in China in 2017, an increase of 22,000 from 2015 [2].

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Conclusion