Abstract
China has witnessed a surge of rural-urban migrants over the past three decades. Although a plethora of literature has shed light on the low quality of migrants' lives, little research has been done to understand how migrants evaluate their own lives in host cities, and no study has been undertaken to link migrants' subjective wellbeing with their residential environments. Using the data collected from a questionnaire survey in Guangzhou and multilevel linear models, this paper examines the determinants of migrants' subjective wellbeing in host cities. It particularly focuses on the extent to which and the ways in which migrants' social ties and residential environment influence their subjective wellbeing. The results indicate that, in general, migrants have a lower level of subjective wellbeing than local residents, and the cognitive and emotional components of migrants' subjective wellbeing are influenced by different factors. The sense of relative deprivation, social support, and neighbourhood social environment matter in determining the cognitive component of migrants' wellbeing (life satisfaction) but have no impact on the emotional component of their wellbeing (positive and negative affect). No evidence shows that neighbourhood cleanliness and neighbourhood amenities influence the level of migrants' subjective wellbeing.
Highlights
Subjective wellbeing (SWB) refers to how people experience the quality of their life and is composed of life satisfaction and affect (Diener, 1984; Diener, Sapyta, & Suh, 1998)
Using data from a questionnaire survey and multilevel models, this paper examines the determinants of migrants' SWB in Guangzhou, China
Results from multilevel models have shown that social support, neighbourhood cleanliness, and neighbourhood amenities are associated with the cognition component of migrants' SWB but have no association with the emotion component of migrants' SWB
Summary
Subjective wellbeing (SWB) refers to how people experience the quality of their life and is composed of life satisfaction and affect (comprising positive and negative affect) (Diener, 1984; Diener, Sapyta, & Suh, 1998). The present study manages to answer these questions by incorporating the analysis of migrants' SWB within a multilevel framework. Is migrants' SWB associated with the physical and social environment of neighbourhoods where they live? To fill in these knowledge gaps, this paper investigates the factors that influence migrants' SWB in a Chinese city, Guangzhou, through a multilevel perspective. It focuses on the extent to which, and the ways in which migrants' social ties and residential environment influence their SWB. We use multilevel linear models to identify the factors significantly influencing each component of migrants' SWB based on questionnaire data collected in 23 neighbourhoods in Guangzhou.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have