Responding to the pandemic as a family unit: social impacts of COVID-19 on rural migrants in China and their coping strategies

Abstract

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has created tremendous chaos in people’s daily lives around the world. However, the related social impacts vary across social groups. Compared to people with abundant resources, the more disadvantaged tend to suffer greater negative social impacts from disasters. Although it is a crucial topic, there has been limited research on the social impacts of disastrous epidemics on uninfected people in developing countries. To bridge the gap, this study investigates the social impacts of the spread of COVID-19 on rural migrants and their coping strategies through face-to-face interviews with rural migrants in Nanjing, China. The household perspective is highlighted to explore how rural migrants deal with various threats induced by COVID-19 spread. The study finds that rural migrants suffered from serious social impacts due to COVID-19, especially during the associated lockdown period. Despite some similar impacts, influences of COVID-19 varied among rural migrants at different life-cycle stages, due to variations in human capital, family burdens, role in a household, and ability to find part-time work. Receiving little support from governments and employers, rural migrants tended to adopt household strategies to deal with difficulties related to COVID-19. Within a household, they assisted each other and worked as a unit to maximize resources and reduce risks. Traditional family values were highly praised by rural migrant households during the period. Findings also suggest that both central and local governments need to provide practical aid to this group and to improve the social security system for rural migrants.