Abstract
This research examines how rural-to-urban migration influences health through discrimination experience in China after considering migration selection bias. We conducted propensity score matching (PSM) to obtain a matched group of rural residents and rural-to-urban migrants with a similar probability of migrating from rural to urban areas using data from the 2014 China Family Panel Studies (CFPS). Regression and mediation analyses were performed after PSM. The results of regression analysis after PSM indicated that rural-to-urban migrants reported more discrimination experience than rural residents, and those of mediation analysis revealed discrimination experience to exert negative indirect effects on the associations between rural-to-urban migration and three measures of health: self-reported health, psychological distress, and physical discomfort. Sensitivity analysis using different calipers yielded similar results. Relevant policies and practices are required to respond to the unfair treatment and discrimination experienced by this migrant population.
Highlights
Given the large scale of and rapid increase in migration worldwide in recent years, the study of the relationship among migration, discrimination, and health is highly pertinent to promoting migrant well-being
Using data from the cross-sectional component of the third (2014) China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) wave, this study examined whether discrimination experience mediates the relationship between migration and health
The migrants had higher proportions of good selfreported health (84.35%), and lower proportions of physical discomfort in the past two weeks (22.36%) than rural residents, but there was no significant difference in psychological distress between the two groups
Summary
Given the large scale of and rapid increase in migration worldwide in recent years, the study of the relationship among migration, discrimination, and health is highly pertinent to promoting migrant well-being. Migrants in China are confronted with many difficulties, not least discrimination and health problems, with research revealing greater health depletion the longer migrants remain in the migration destination [3, 4]. The extant literature shows discrimination experience to be associated with poorer health, including self-rated physical health and depressive distress [5, 6], which may help to explain the health disparities between migrants and non-migrants. The influence of discrimination experience on health
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