A female advantage? Gender patterning of psychological well-being among migrants and returnees in China

Key Question Being Explored in This Insight:

How does gender, combined with marriage, influence psychological well-being during rural-to-urban migration and return migration in China, and which groups are most vulnerable to negative impacts?

View the page of: Lei Jin

Institution: The Chinese University of Hong Kong

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How does gender, combined with marriage, influence psychological well-being during rural-to-urban migration and return migration in China, and which groups are most vulnerable to negative impacts?

Image courtesy of interviewee. February 14, 2025

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This video discusses the impact of migration on psychological wellbeing, particularly focusing on gender differences in the context of rural to urban migration in China. It highlights that women are a significant part of the migration process, with around 300 million rural residents having migrated to urban areas in search of better economic conditions and opportunities. This video delves into how migration affects women's psychological wellbeing, indicating that migrant women may fare better than men in terms of emotional role functioning. It also notes that institutional barriers and societal factors play a significant role in shaping the experiences of migrants, with women facing challenges but also potential empowerment in urban settings. This video advises addressing barriers and reducing discrimination to support migrants' mental health and calls for interventions to promote gender equality and improve overall wellbeing for both men and women, including vulnerable groups.

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1. **Rural to Urban Migration in China**: Over the past four decades, close to 300 million rural residents have migrated from rural areas to cities in search of better economic opportunities. Women make up about half of the migrant population.

2. **Gender Differences in Psychological Wellbeing**: While migration isn't uniformly beneficial for women in terms of their psychological wellbeing, migrant women tend to fare better than men in terms of their emotional role functioning but may become less happy. Men, on the other hand, may experience different gains and losses in psychological wellbeing during migration.

3. **Impact of Marriage on Psychological Wellbeing**: Marriage is generally protective of psychological wellbeing. Among rural residents, marriage is more beneficial for men than women. However, after migration, the benefits of marriage become similar for both men and women, with married women benefiting more from migration in terms of psychological wellbeing.

4. **Effects of Migration on Urban Communities**: Women in urban communities may experience economic empowerment, increased self-esteem, and more decision-making power compared to rural areas, potentially leading to improved psychological wellbeing. Men in urban areas, on the other hand, may face challenges due to shifting gender hierarchies.

5. **Long-Term Effects of Migration**: While migration can bring about changes in gender values in rural communities, return migrants may face patriarchal values and practices when returning to their rural families. This can affect the psychological wellbeing of migrants, with a potential return to gender differences observed in rural residents. Efforts to eliminate barriers and reduce discrimination are crucial to improving the psychological wellbeing of migrants.

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Here are some key quotes from the video you :

1. "Women are a very significant part of it. They make up about, half of the, migrant populations."
2. "What we found is that migrant women did better than men in terms of their psychological wellbeing."
3. "When women migrated, they became less likely to be affected by emotional problems. So they got better on the negative aspect, but they also became less happy."
4. "The gender gap in psychological wellbeing changed from the pattern in rural areas to be similar to the patterns in urban areas, which is more favorable for women."
5. "For men, the dynamics can be quite different. The differences in the gender hierarchy between rural to urban areas may decrease their advantages."
6. "Marriage is generally protective of psychological wellbeing."
7. "The female advantage in the consequences of migration may be especially prominent in married women."
8. "Return migrants, regardless of their gender, were less happy than rural residents with no migration experience."
9. "Intervention that seeks to educate migrant men on more equal gender values may help improve their mental state."

These quotes highlight key points about rural to urban migration in China, gender differences in psychological wellbeing among migrants, the impact of migration on happiness and emotional wellbeing, the role of marriage in psychological wellbeing, and the challenges and vulnerabilities faced by migrant populations.

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So first maybe I should explain, some background,

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about rural to urban migration in China.

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Um, so, so there has been a, a, a very sort

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of large scale rural to urban migration during the past,

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the past, four decades.

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Um, so as of now, close to 300 million,

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rural residents migrated from, rural areas to cities,

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in search of better economic,

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conditions, and opportunities.

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And women are a very significant part of it.

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They make up about, half of the,

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migrant populations.

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Um, so they may be migrating with their, families,

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you know, following their husbands,

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or they may be leading the migration,

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or they might be migrating along, engaging

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with migrant work.

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Um, so there are also some sort of, special feature

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of migration in China, which is that, so China has,

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what's called a household registration system,

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also called KU system.

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So, Chinese population when they're born,

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they're assigned a KU either urban

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or rural based on where they're born.

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Um, and

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although the system has become less, restrictive,

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in recent year or less rigid in recent years,

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it's still quite difficult for rural people

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to convert their household registration to urban.

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Um, so without the urban KU migrants, have little access

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or have limited access to urban social services such as,

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you know, public school or healthcare.

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Um, and they may be stigmatized.

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So they have, so there is the, these,

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institutional barriers for them.

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So for migrants route to urban migrants in China,

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in addition to the challenge associated

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with migration in general, such as, you know, have to,

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adapt to an unfamiliar environment, you have

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to be separated from your family.

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Um, there is this, these,

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very important institutional barriers.

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So these are, this is the, the background, of,

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migration in China.

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Um, so in terms of the gender differences

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or, women, whether women experience greater

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psychological benefits, I, I want to clarify that.

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Um, so, so, so migration isn't,

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uniformly beneficial for women in terms

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of their psychological wellbeing.

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Um, so what we found is that, migrant women,

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did better than men in terms

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of their psychological wellbeing.

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So let me just explain in, a little more detail.

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Um, so what we did in this study is that to,

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to get at the effect

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of migration on psychological wellbeing,

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we compare migrants in, migrants with, people

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who are still in rural areas with no migration experience,

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but, migrants

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and these, rural residents would have very similar

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characteristics such as age, family background,

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education levels, and so forth.

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So, let me just explain the detail.

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Um, so among people who lived rural areas

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and didn't migrate,

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there were already gender gaps in their

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psychological wellbeing.

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So we looked at two measures of psychological wellbeing.

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The first is derived from a question asking people

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to report, how often emotional problems

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affected their, their abilities

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of doing their daily businesses.

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In the previous 30 days, we caught this, we,

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we called this term emotional,

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emotional role functioning.

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And the second measure, is just about happiness.

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So we ask people how happy they felt.

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Um, so we are thinking,

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so the emotional role functioning is measuring the

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negative aspect of psychological wellbeing

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and happiness measures the positive aspect.

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So what we saw among people living rural,

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rural areas within migrate,

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there were already gender gaps in the sense that women,

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were more likely to say

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that their emotional problems affected their daily

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functioning, but they were also, more likely to say,

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that there, they also report, they reported

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that they were happier than men.

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Um, it's a little bit contradictory,

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but that's the gender gap we saw in rural residents.

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So when then, we also saw that when women migrated,

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they became, less likely to be affected

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by emotional problems.

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So they got better on the negative aspect,

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of the psychological wellbeing,

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but they also became, less happy.

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Um, so, so migration actually had some negative effect on

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their happiness while, they, it has a little bit

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of positive, positive effect on the

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emotional role functioning.

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So the, so the effect of migration on women's,

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psychological wellbeing is not,

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the same on the two measures.

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Um, for men, when they migrated their, they,

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their emotional role functioning didn't change,

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but they got a lot less happier, than women.

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So, then we saw that the gender gap,

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the, the difference between men

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and women in terms of emotional role functioning,

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disappeared when they went to the cities,

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and the gap in happiness got a lot bigger.

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If you remember, in rural areas, women were,

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a little happier than, than men.

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And when, when they moved to cities,

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women are a lot happier than men,

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although both of them became less happy,

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but the gap become bigger.

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So that's what we saw.

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Um, right, so, so, so in general, the,

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the gap became less favorable to, for, for men

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after they, migrated to cities.

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And the patterns,

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the gender differences in psychological wellbeing became

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very similar to those we saw in people living in cities.

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So when migrants, when people move from urban areas to,

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sorry, from move from rural areas to urban areas,

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the patterns of gender differences in psychological

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wellbeing, changed from the pattern

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that we saw in rural areas to the, to, to be similar

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to the patterns in the urban areas,

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which is more favorable for women.

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So that's, that's what we saw in terms

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of the gender advantage.

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Um, and, and as to why we would see this, this,

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have to do these patents, these changes probably have

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to do with the doctors in both the rural communities,

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or what we call sending communities,

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the communities sending the migrants out,

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and, urban communities,

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what we call receiving communities,

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communities receiving the migrants.

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In terms of, in rural communities, women tended to be,

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more disadvantaged in China's rural communities,

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in which traditional gender eti ideology is more persistent

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than in urban places.

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Um, so rural, rural women's, so it, people have shown

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that, or scholars have shown

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that rural women were negatively affected by a set

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of related factors.

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For example, they lived in,

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petro lineal families in which some were preferred.

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And resources were, disproportionately given to sons.

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They tend to marry into a, their,

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their husband's family, and in which they have to adapt.

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There is also sexual division of labor women have to do,

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the most, most

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of the household chores, and so forth.

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Um, so when, then when women migrated,

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they were separated from,

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their households and communities.

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Um, so then they,

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so, so, so this might have disrupted the, the,

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the day to day context in which, these

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negative factors would operate.

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Although leaving home may be stressful for women,

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they also may potentially become,

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empowered in this process.

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So that's the sort of the first, factor.

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And in terms of the, the receiving community,

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the urban communities,

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although, women may suffer discrimination,

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on the other hand, they may be,

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economically more empowered.

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They make more money, they have more cash income,

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which may increase their status in the family,

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and, increase their self-esteem and,

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and sense of efficacy.

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Um, and also

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because, in urban areas, the gender,

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hierarchy is less extensive.

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Um, gender values may be more, equal.

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Um, so migrant women may enjoy greater decision making

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power, in different life domains, like how

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to spend money, how to, you know,

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choose their spouses or partners.

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Um, and also, some studies have shown that

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for unmarried women or moving to urban areas may also,

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enlarge the pools from which they can select their partners.

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Um, so this also may be beneficial

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to their psychological wellbeing.

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So that's for women on the men's side,

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the dynamics can be quite different.

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Um, so first,

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as there are differences in the gender hierarchy between

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rural and urban communities, for men migrating

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to urban areas may,

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lower the advantages, decrease their advantages.

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They enjoyed, you know, such as the,

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greater household investment

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or decision making power, which they previously enjoyed,

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in their home places.

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Um, also, when they're faced

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with more, egalitarian gender ideology

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and more economic independence of women in their households,

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migrant men may perceive

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that there's traditional muscular roles, for example,

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that their, the primary decision making in the household

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would be compromised.

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So in the urban setting, so that's for men.

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And also,

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previous studies have also shown that,

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the local residents attitude toward migrants,

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typically would be more hostile to men.

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So men are found to be more threatening than women, so

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men may, be more discriminated against

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in the receiving community.

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Um, so we,

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so these factors taken together,

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so, we would see, a difference in terms of

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migrant men and women's psychological wellbeing.

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The idea is that when women

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and men migrate, they may experience different

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Types of gains and losses.

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And the total balance comes out to be that in terms

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of psychological wellbeing, women may be a little,

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advantaged than men.

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So there is a further point that in the study,

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we, we saw that,

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so the, the, the women's,

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advantage in terms of psychological wellbeing

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during the migration process is especially prominent

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or pronounced or married women.

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Well, in general, in a lot of studies

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and across many social contexts, people have found

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that marriage is generally protective

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of psychological wellbeing.

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So when people get married,

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they enjoy better psychological wellbeing.

241
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Um, so,

242
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and we also found there a similar,

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findings here.

244
00:12:51.685 --> 00:12:56.105
Uh, but we saw that, so what we saw is that in rural

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00:12:56.635 --> 00:13:00.905
areas, in rural, residents who did not migrate,

246
00:13:01.765 --> 00:13:05.345
marriage is more beneficial for men than for women.

247
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So, after getting married, men

248
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and women's psychological, psychological wellbeing, both,

249
00:13:13.885 --> 00:13:17.345
improved, but for men, it improved

250
00:13:17.905 --> 00:13:19.065
a lot more than women.

251
00:13:19.325 --> 00:13:22.705
So what we saw is that between, among single people,

252
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there's actually a little difference in terms

253
00:13:25.845 --> 00:13:27.545
of people's psychological wellbeing.

254
00:13:27.885 --> 00:13:30.905
But in, married people,

255
00:13:31.165 --> 00:13:32.905
men would do better than women.

256
00:13:33.005 --> 00:13:34.185
So that's what we found.

257
00:13:34.725 --> 00:13:38.465
But, after they migrate among migrants, the benefit

258
00:13:38.645 --> 00:13:42.305
of marriage is the same for men and women, right?

259
00:13:42.725 --> 00:13:47.105
So that is, the,

260
00:13:47.325 --> 00:13:50.785
the benefits of marriage increased for women

261
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after they migrated.

262
00:13:53.685 --> 00:13:57.065
Um, and, so this would,

263
00:13:57.645 --> 00:14:02.505
so then this would lead us to see that the gender gap,

264
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in psychological wellbeing are then non-existent for,

265
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both married and single men and women.

266
00:14:10.405 --> 00:14:14.545
And another way of looking at this is that, then,

267
00:14:14.575 --> 00:14:19.385
married women benefit more from migration than those who are

268
00:14:19.955 --> 00:14:23.825
never married, especially in terms of,

269
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emotional role functioning, that is the negative aspect

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of psychological wellbeing.

271
00:14:29.125 --> 00:14:32.785
Um, so, so Ben, so what we saw is that benefits

272
00:14:32.785 --> 00:14:36.345
of migration seem to be, especially,

273
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prominent in married women, married, right?

274
00:14:41.165 --> 00:14:43.385
So that's the, the findings.

275
00:14:44.005 --> 00:14:46.185
Um, and why should that be the case?

276
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Um, we, would, argue

277
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that would reason that traditional gender etiology would,

278
00:14:56.295 --> 00:14:58.075
prescribe gender roles

279
00:14:58.185 --> 00:15:01.395
that plays especially heavy burdens on married women

280
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to take up, household responsibility and, and childcare.

281
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So in rural areas,

282
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because of the petrol, local living arrangement, that is,

283
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women typically marry into their husband's households living

284
00:15:14.425 --> 00:15:16.435
with their, in-laws.

285
00:15:16.895 --> 00:15:21.475
Um, the expectations embodied in the traditional gender role

286
00:15:22.015 --> 00:15:24.835
may be reinforced in everyday interactions,

287
00:15:25.655 --> 00:15:27.875
and particularly restrict restricted

288
00:15:27.875 --> 00:15:30.795
because women are living their husband's household, right?

289
00:15:30.895 --> 00:15:32.835
So, and, and, sort

290
00:15:32.835 --> 00:15:36.155
of these traditional gender roles would be enforced,

291
00:15:36.455 --> 00:15:37.875
more readily.

292
00:15:38.935 --> 00:15:41.435
Um, so migrating,

293
00:15:41.665 --> 00:15:45.475
migrating away from rural communities,

294
00:15:45.475 --> 00:15:48.835
than maybe especially liberating for these women

295
00:15:48.835 --> 00:15:52.595
because they moved away from the everyday living context.

296
00:15:53.215 --> 00:15:55.995
So in the, in the receiving communities in the cities

297
00:15:55.995 --> 00:15:59.075
married women, they, they are, they're also faced

298
00:15:59.075 --> 00:16:00.275
with a lot of stress, right?

299
00:16:00.275 --> 00:16:02.515
Because they have to deal with household responsibilities

300
00:16:02.585 --> 00:16:05.995
without social support they previously receive.

301
00:16:06.735 --> 00:16:10.715
Um, but on the other hand, they gained more,

302
00:16:11.115 --> 00:16:15.075
economic power, more independence,

303
00:16:15.175 --> 00:16:17.675
and their husbands probably had to

304
00:16:18.345 --> 00:16:20.515
seed more decision making power to them,

305
00:16:20.575 --> 00:16:21.955
and their husbands also had

306
00:16:21.955 --> 00:16:23.955
to take on more household chores.

307
00:16:24.855 --> 00:16:28.915
Um, so this might be beneficial

308
00:16:29.175 --> 00:16:31.115
to their psychological wellbeing.

309
00:16:31.175 --> 00:16:34.875
So that might be why we saw,

310
00:16:35.185 --> 00:16:38.875
that the female, advantage in

311
00:16:39.695 --> 00:16:41.515
the consequences of migration

312
00:16:42.135 --> 00:16:46.275
and maybe especially prominent in, in, in married women.

313
00:16:46.415 --> 00:16:50.675
So, as I mentioned, so migrants in China had faced a lot

314
00:16:50.675 --> 00:16:52.355
of institutional areas, right?

315
00:16:52.455 --> 00:16:56.755
So, and also, together,

316
00:16:56.825 --> 00:16:59.555
because also because of high living costs in cities,

317
00:17:00.065 --> 00:17:01.875
it's often difficult for migrants

318
00:17:01.935 --> 00:17:04.795
to settle in the cities in which they work.

319
00:17:05.495 --> 00:17:10.235
Um, so Chinese migrants tended to maintain a sort

320
00:17:10.235 --> 00:17:13.355
of sec, circular, circular pattern of migration.

321
00:17:13.935 --> 00:17:16.715
Um, so going back to the rural communities

322
00:17:16.715 --> 00:17:18.995
where they're from, either temporarily

323
00:17:19.655 --> 00:17:23.635
or permanently, it's very, it's an important component

324
00:17:23.735 --> 00:17:25.035
of the migration process.

325
00:17:25.255 --> 00:17:29.555
So that's why we wanted to see what happens to the,

326
00:17:30.095 --> 00:17:34.355
gender gaps or the female advantage once their,

327
00:17:34.355 --> 00:17:38.115
once when the migrants are back in, when they return

328
00:17:38.195 --> 00:17:39.395
to their rural communities.

329
00:17:39.455 --> 00:17:42.635
So we wanted to see the long-term effects,

330
00:17:42.695 --> 00:17:44.475
and we didn't have a clear

331
00:17:45.085 --> 00:17:49.405
prediction about which way the results would go,

332
00:17:49.435 --> 00:17:54.125
because, according to the previous studies on one hand,

333
00:17:54.825 --> 00:17:57.085
quite a few studies have found

334
00:17:57.115 --> 00:17:59.485
that migration has changed the value

335
00:17:59.745 --> 00:18:02.045
of some preference in rural communities.

336
00:18:02.075 --> 00:18:05.525
That is, so this raised the possibility

337
00:18:05.525 --> 00:18:09.685
that return migrants may, have brought back,

338
00:18:10.585 --> 00:18:13.165
values

339
00:18:13.345 --> 00:18:15.845
or practices that emphasize gender equality.

340
00:18:15.955 --> 00:18:18.045
They not only brought back these values,

341
00:18:18.155 --> 00:18:20.805
they can hold onto them and practice them, right?

342
00:18:21.305 --> 00:18:23.045
Um, and, but on the other hand,

343
00:18:23.045 --> 00:18:26.445
there also has been studies showing that,

344
00:18:26.445 --> 00:18:30.685
women still had to endure patriarchal values

345
00:18:30.865 --> 00:18:33.805
and practices when they return to their rural families

346
00:18:34.295 --> 00:18:35.645
after migration.

347
00:18:36.345 --> 00:18:38.645
Um, so it's conceivable

348
00:18:38.645 --> 00:18:40.965
that these two opposing scenarios were both happening.

349
00:18:41.505 --> 00:18:45.685
Um, so we are, we actually hypothesized that when migrants,

350
00:18:46.185 --> 00:18:48.325
return to their places of origin,

351
00:18:48.585 --> 00:18:52.965
the female advantage in psychological wellbeing would,

352
00:18:53.245 --> 00:18:56.325
diminish a little, but may not completely disappear.

353
00:18:56.665 --> 00:18:59.205
So then we did our data analysis.

354
00:18:59.315 --> 00:19:03.805
What we found that the gender gaps,

355
00:19:04.705 --> 00:19:07.295

356
00:19:08.035 --> 00:19:10.495
in the two measures, the negative

357
00:19:10.515 --> 00:19:13.455
and positive aspects of psychological wellbeing.

358
00:19:14.115 --> 00:19:15.695
Um,

359
00:19:15.865 --> 00:19:19.495
after the migrants return to their,

360
00:19:19.835 --> 00:19:22.815
to their sending communities,

361
00:19:23.515 --> 00:19:26.055
the gap switched back to the pattern

362
00:19:26.445 --> 00:19:30.855
that we observed in rural, like, rural residents, right?

363
00:19:30.915 --> 00:19:35.215
So the gender, so sort of the female,

364
00:19:35.215 --> 00:19:38.855
advantage we observed among migrants just disappeared.

365
00:19:39.795 --> 00:19:44.575
Um, rather than just diminish a little, so the, the,

366
00:19:44.795 --> 00:19:48.055
the, the pattern of gender differences in psychological

367
00:19:48.245 --> 00:19:53.175
wellbeing would switching back to resembling those

368
00:19:53.855 --> 00:19:58.055
observed in rural residents, right.

369
00:19:58.835 --> 00:20:03.015
So this would, indicate that,

370
00:20:03.285 --> 00:20:05.015
even though,

371
00:20:05.805 --> 00:20:10.735
this gender dynamics may have changed among migrants,

372
00:20:10.845 --> 00:20:15.525
when they, when, when they moved

373
00:20:15.525 --> 00:20:20.295
to urban areas, these changes didn't seem to persist,

374
00:20:20.295 --> 00:20:23.495
once the migrants move back to their rural communities.

375
00:20:23.675 --> 00:20:26.615
So this may indicate that,

376
00:20:26.845 --> 00:20:30.455
when these women return to their standing communities,

377
00:20:30.525 --> 00:20:34.535
they came to be dominated by the prevalent,

378
00:20:34.805 --> 00:20:36.255
patriarchal gender values,

379
00:20:36.325 --> 00:20:41.055
even though the women themselves may still, harbor,

380
00:20:41.445 --> 00:20:43.975
aspirations that were incompatible

381
00:20:44.165 --> 00:20:45.895
with the patriarchal values.

382
00:20:46.395 --> 00:20:49.645
So our studies, looks at the gender dimension, right,

383
00:20:49.645 --> 00:20:51.605
in effect of migration on wellbeing.

384
00:20:51.865 --> 00:20:56.005
Um, but what I want to first emphasize here is that,

385
00:20:56.525 --> 00:20:59.405
migrants as a whole, actually suffer

386
00:21:00.005 --> 00:21:02.125
deficits in psychological wellbeing when

387
00:21:02.125 --> 00:21:03.205
they move to cities.

388
00:21:03.785 --> 00:21:07.285
So we, what we saw that compare with,

389
00:21:08.155 --> 00:21:10.525
with people living in urban areas of similar

390
00:21:11.115 --> 00:21:14.445
demographic characteristics, migrant men

391
00:21:14.445 --> 00:21:17.755
and women were much less happy, right?

392
00:21:17.855 --> 00:21:19.755
And they were also much less happy than

393
00:21:19.755 --> 00:21:20.955
their rural counterparts.

394
00:21:21.035 --> 00:21:24.115
Moreover, the deficit happiness persisted

395
00:21:24.975 --> 00:21:27.555
as migrants returned to their sending communities.

396
00:21:28.135 --> 00:21:30.955
Um, so return migrants, regardless of their agenda,

397
00:21:31.025 --> 00:21:33.035
were less happy than rural residents

398
00:21:33.035 --> 00:21:34.795
with no migration experience,

399
00:21:35.335 --> 00:21:38.715
but, who were quite similar to them in other aspects.

400
00:21:39.565 --> 00:21:43.525
Um, so they were,

401
00:21:44.035 --> 00:21:45.805
less happy prob there were many

402
00:21:46.645 --> 00:21:48.765
possible reasons why they were less happy

403
00:21:48.765 --> 00:21:52.685
because of the institutional barriers, discrimination,

404
00:21:52.825 --> 00:21:55.885
the need to adapt and adjust to new environment.

405
00:21:56.395 --> 00:21:58.685
Also, it could be a shift of frame of reference, right?

406
00:21:58.745 --> 00:22:02.245
So in my comparison group would be different, right?

407
00:22:02.485 --> 00:22:05.325
I, I saw many people who are richer than me.

408
00:22:05.425 --> 00:22:09.525
So, I might be less satisfied with my circumstances,

409
00:22:09.715 --> 00:22:12.245
even if my circumstances remain changed.

410
00:22:12.985 --> 00:22:16.475
Um, so then I think what,

411
00:22:16.475 --> 00:22:18.235
what's very important here is that

412
00:22:18.545 --> 00:22:22.075
what highlight the importance of eliminating barriers

413
00:22:22.375 --> 00:22:26.115
and reducing discrimination in general for migrants.

414
00:22:26.735 --> 00:22:30.635
Um, so it's important still to minimize the risk restriction

415
00:22:30.655 --> 00:22:34.395
of the household registration system to give migrants,

416
00:22:34.445 --> 00:22:37.155
equal access to social services,

417
00:22:37.155 --> 00:22:39.955
maybe providing migrants met with,

418
00:22:40.995 --> 00:22:42.075
economic opportunities

419
00:22:42.215 --> 00:22:45.275
and training opportunity, training opportunities.

420
00:22:45.975 --> 00:22:48.635
So these can benefit both men and women.

421
00:22:49.255 --> 00:22:53.875
Um, but it's also true that I was, the study identified,

422
00:22:54.255 --> 00:22:57.035
vulnerable group groups

423
00:22:57.035 --> 00:23:00.075
that are particularly vulnerable part, first

424
00:23:00.605 --> 00:23:01.915
would be the migrant men.

425
00:23:02.895 --> 00:23:03.915
Um, so,

426
00:23:04.375 --> 00:23:07.355
and one possible explanation for migrant

427
00:23:07.965 --> 00:23:12.715
men's decline in psychological wellbeing, is that,

428
00:23:12.775 --> 00:23:16.355
as I we talked about earlier there is that there,

429
00:23:17.075 --> 00:23:20.355
relative superior positions was threatened

430
00:23:20.455 --> 00:23:22.315
during the migration process.

431
00:23:23.175 --> 00:23:26.715
Um, and their masculine ideals may be compromised

432
00:23:26.775 --> 00:23:27.955
during migration.

433
00:23:28.535 --> 00:23:32.635
Um, so, so intervention that seek to

434
00:23:33.955 --> 00:23:35.835
tate migrant men

435
00:23:35.935 --> 00:23:39.995
to more equal gender values may help improve their

436
00:23:40.295 --> 00:23:41.875
mental, state.

437
00:23:42.575 --> 00:23:47.045
Uh, another vulnerable group, as you also mentioned, is,

438
00:23:47.175 --> 00:23:50.605
women who return to their sending communities, right?

439
00:23:51.225 --> 00:23:52.245
Um, we found

440
00:23:52.245 --> 00:23:54.525
that they didn't maintain the disadvantages gained

441
00:23:54.525 --> 00:23:55.925
during the migration process.

442
00:23:56.785 --> 00:23:58.645
Um, so social programs

443
00:23:58.825 --> 00:24:02.725
and, organizations in rural areas,

444
00:24:03.305 --> 00:24:06.325
if they can provide more support for emotional

445
00:24:06.705 --> 00:24:11.325
or social support for these women, for example,

446
00:24:11.425 --> 00:24:13.285
to discuss their problems may be helpful,

447
00:24:14.065 --> 00:24:17.965
or training programs so that women can gain skills

448
00:24:18.105 --> 00:24:20.445
to improve their economic,

449
00:24:20.815 --> 00:24:25.005
situations may also be helpful to these women, right?

450
00:24:25.185 --> 00:24:28.605
So, interventions that can improve the wellbeing

451
00:24:28.605 --> 00:24:29.885
of both men, women,

452
00:24:29.985 --> 00:24:33.285
and also for these vulnerable groups, groups may be,

453
00:24:33.285 --> 00:24:33.725
helpful.

Quick Answers

Rural to Urban Migration Dynamics in China

00:00:00 - So first maybe I should explain, some background, about rural to urban migration in China. so, so there has been a, a, a very sort of large scale rural to urban migration during the past, the past, four decades. so as of now, close to 300 million, rural residents migrated from, rural areas to cities, in search of better economic,

00:00:33 - And women are a very significant part of it. They make up about, half of the, migrant populations. so they may be migrating with their, families, you know, following their husbands, or they may be leading the migration, or they might be migrating along, engaging with migrant work. so there are also some sort of, special feature of migration in China, which is that, so China has,

00:01:05 - also called KU system. So, Chinese population when they're born, they're assigned a KU either urban or rural based on where they're born. and although the system has become less, restrictive, in recent year or less rigid in recent years, it's still quite difficult for rural people to convert their household registration to urban. so without the urban KU migrants, have little access or have limited access to urban social services such as,

Challenges and Gender Disparities in Rural-to-Urban Migration

00:01:39 - and they may be stigmatized. So they have, so there is the, these, institutional barriers for them. So for migrants route to urban migrants in China, in addition to the challenge associated with migration in general, such as, you know, have to, adapt to an unfamiliar environment, you have to be separated from your family. there is this, these, very important institutional barriers. So these are, this is the, the background, of,

00:02:11 - so in terms of the gender differences or, women, whether women experience greater psychological benefits, I, I want to clarify that. so, so, so migration isn't, uniformly beneficial for women in terms of their psychological wellbeing. so what we found is that, migrant women, did better than men in terms of their psychological wellbeing.

00:02:44 - so what we did in this study is that to, to get at the effect of migration on psychological wellbeing, we compare migrants in, migrants with, people who are still in rural areas with no migration experience, but, migrants and these, rural residents would have very similar characteristics such as age, family background,

Gender Gaps in Psychological Wellbeing

00:03:12 - So, let me just explain the detail. so among people who lived rural areas and didn't migrate, there were already gender gaps in their psychological wellbeing. So we looked at two measures of psychological wellbeing. The first is derived from a question asking people to report, how often emotional problems affected their, their abilities of doing their daily businesses. In the previous 30 days, we caught this, we,

00:03:46 - emotional role functioning. And the second measure, is just about happiness. So we ask people how happy they felt. so we are thinking, so the emotional role functioning is measuring the negative aspect of psychological wellbeing and happiness measures the positive aspect. So what we saw among people living rural, rural areas within migrate, there were already gender gaps in the sense that women,

00:04:16 - that their emotional problems affected their daily functioning, but they were also, more likely to say, that there, they also report, they reported that they were happier than men. it's a little bit contradictory, but that's the gender gap we saw in rural residents. So when then, we also saw that when women migrated, they became, less likely to be affected by emotional problems. So they got better on the negative aspect,

Impact of Migration on Gender Disparities

00:04:48 - but they also became, less happy. so, so migration actually had some negative effect on their happiness while, they, it has a little bit of positive, positive effect on the emotional role functioning. So the, so the effect of migration on women's, psychological wellbeing is not, the same on the two measures. for men, when they migrated their, they, their emotional role functioning didn't change,

00:05:24 - So, then we saw that the gender gap, the, the difference between men and women in terms of emotional role functioning, disappeared when they went to the cities, and the gap in happiness got a lot bigger. If you remember, in rural areas, women were, a little happier than, than men. And when, when they moved to cities,

00:05:54 - although both of them became less happy, but the gap become bigger. So that's what we saw. right, so, so, so in general, the, the gap became less favorable to, for, for men after they, migrated to cities. And the patterns, the gender differences in psychological wellbeing became very similar to those we saw in people living in cities.

Gender Disparities in Migration Impact

00:06:27 - sorry, from move from rural areas to urban areas, the patterns of gender differences in psychological wellbeing, changed from the pattern that we saw in rural areas to the, to, to be similar to the patterns in the urban areas, which is more favorable for women. So that's, that's what we saw in terms of the gender advantage. and, and as to why we would see this, this,

00:06:59 - to do with the doctors in both the rural communities, or what we call sending communities, the communities sending the migrants out, and, urban communities, what we call receiving communities, communities receiving the migrants. In terms of, in rural communities, women tended to be, more disadvantaged in China's rural communities, in which traditional gender eti ideology is more persistent

00:07:31 - so rural, rural women's, so it, people have shown that, or scholars have shown that rural women were negatively affected by a set of related factors. For example, they lived in, petro lineal families in which some were preferred. And resources were, disproportionately given to sons. They tend to marry into a, their, their husband's family, and in which they have to adapt.

Impact of Migration on Women's Empowerment

00:08:04 - the most, most of the household chores, and so forth. so when, then when women migrated, they were separated from, their households and communities. so then they, so, so, so this might have disrupted the, the, the day to day context in which, these

00:08:34 - Although leaving home may be stressful for women, they also may potentially become, empowered in this process. So that's the sort of the first, factor. And in terms of the, the receiving community, the urban communities, although, women may suffer discrimination, on the other hand, they may be, economically more empowered. They make more money, they have more cash income,

00:09:07 - and, increase their self-esteem and, and sense of efficacy. and also because, in urban areas, the gender, hierarchy is less extensive. gender values may be more, equal. so migrant women may enjoy greater decision making power, in different life domains, like how to spend money, how to, you know,

Impact of Gender Differences in Urban Migration

00:09:39 - and also, some studies have shown that for unmarried women or moving to urban areas may also, enlarge the pools from which they can select their partners. so this also may be beneficial to their psychological wellbeing. So that's for women on the men's side, the dynamics can be quite different. so first, as there are differences in the gender hierarchy between

00:10:13 - to urban areas may, lower the advantages, decrease their advantages. They enjoyed, you know, such as the, greater household investment or decision making power, which they previously enjoyed, in their home places. also, when they're faced with more, egalitarian gender ideology

00:10:44 - migrant men may perceive that there's traditional muscular roles, for example, that their, the primary decision making in the household would be compromised. So in the urban setting, so that's for men. And also, previous studies have also shown that, the local residents attitude toward migrants,

Gender Disparities in Migration Psychology

00:11:17 - So men are found to be more threatening than women, so men may, be more discriminated against in the receiving community. so we, so these factors taken together, so, we would see, a difference in terms of migrant men and women's psychological wellbeing.

00:11:48 - and men migrate, they may experience different Types of gains and losses. And the total balance comes out to be that in terms of psychological wellbeing, women may be a little, advantaged than men. So there is a further point that in the study, we, we saw that, so the, the, the women's,

00:12:22 - during the migration process is especially prominent or pronounced or married women. Well, in general, in a lot of studies and across many social contexts, people have found that marriage is generally protective of psychological wellbeing. So when people get married, they enjoy better psychological wellbeing. so, and we also found there a similar,

Marriage and Migration Impact on Psychological Wellbeing

00:12:51 - but we saw that, so what we saw is that in rural areas, in rural, residents who did not migrate, marriage is more beneficial for men than for women. So, after getting married, men and women's psychological, psychological wellbeing, both, improved, but for men, it improved a lot more than women. So what we saw is that between, among single people,

00:13:25 - of people's psychological wellbeing. But in, married people, men would do better than women. So that's what we found. But, after they migrate among migrants, the benefit of marriage is the same for men and women, right? So that is, the, the benefits of marriage increased for women after they migrated.

00:13:57 - so then this would lead us to see that the gender gap, in psychological wellbeing are then non-existent for, both married and single men and women. And another way of looking at this is that, then, married women benefit more from migration than those who are never married, especially in terms of,

Migration Benefits for Married Women

00:14:27 - of psychological wellbeing. so, so Ben, so what we saw is that benefits of migration seem to be, especially, prominent in married women, married, right? So that's the, the findings. and why should that be the case? we, would, argue that would reason that traditional gender etiology would,

00:14:58 - that plays especially heavy burdens on married women to take up, household responsibility and, and childcare. So in rural areas, because of the petrol, local living arrangement, that is, women typically marry into their husband's households living with their, in-laws. the expectations embodied in the traditional gender role may be reinforced in everyday interactions, and particularly restrict restricted

00:15:30 - So, and, and, sort of these traditional gender roles would be enforced, more readily. so migrating, migrating away from rural communities, than maybe especially liberating for these women because they moved away from the everyday living context. So in the, in the receiving communities in the cities married women, they, they are, they're also faced

Married Women's Empowerment in Migration

00:16:00 - Because they have to deal with household responsibilities without social support they previously receive. but on the other hand, they gained more, economic power, more independence, and their husbands probably had to seed more decision making power to them, and their husbands also had to take on more household chores. so this might be beneficial

00:16:31 - So that might be why we saw, that the female, advantage in the consequences of migration and maybe especially prominent in, in, in married women. So, as I mentioned, so migrants in China had faced a lot of institutional areas, right? So, and also, together, because also because of high living costs in cities,

00:17:01 - to settle in the cities in which they work. so Chinese migrants tended to maintain a sort of sec, circular, circular pattern of migration. so going back to the rural communities where they're from, either temporarily or permanently, it's very, it's an important component of the migration process. So that's why we wanted to see what happens to the,

Long-Term Effects of Migration Return

00:17:34 - once when the migrants are back in, when they return to their rural communities. So we wanted to see the long-term effects, and we didn't have a clear prediction about which way the results would go, because, according to the previous studies on one hand, quite a few studies have found that migration has changed the value of some preference in rural communities.

00:18:05 - that return migrants may, have brought back, values or practices that emphasize gender equality. They not only brought back these values, they can hold onto them and practice them, right? and, but on the other hand, there also has been studies showing that, women still had to endure patriarchal values and practices when they return to their rural families

00:18:36 - so it's conceivable that these two opposing scenarios were both happening. so we are, we actually hypothesized that when migrants, return to their places of origin, the female advantage in psychological wellbeing would, diminish a little, but may not completely disappear. So then we did our data analysis. What we found that the gender gaps,

Gender Gap Reversal after Rural Migration Return

00:19:08 - in the two measures, the negative and positive aspects of psychological wellbeing. after the migrants return to their, to their sending communities, the gap switched back to the pattern that we observed in rural, like, rural residents, right? So the gender, so sort of the female,

00:19:39 - rather than just diminish a little, so the, the, the, the pattern of gender differences in psychological wellbeing would switching back to resembling those observed in rural residents, right. So this would, indicate that, even though,

00:20:10 - when they, when, when they moved to urban areas, these changes didn't seem to persist, once the migrants move back to their rural communities. So this may indicate that, when these women return to their standing communities, they came to be dominated by the prevalent, patriarchal gender values,

Challenges of Migration Impact on Psychological Wellbeing

00:20:41 - aspirations that were incompatible with the patriarchal values. So our studies, looks at the gender dimension, right, in effect of migration on wellbeing. but what I want to first emphasize here is that, migrants as a whole, actually suffer deficits in psychological wellbeing when they move to cities. So we, what we saw that compare with,

00:21:11 - demographic characteristics, migrant men and women were much less happy, right? And they were also much less happy than their rural counterparts. Moreover, the deficit happiness persisted as migrants returned to their sending communities. so return migrants, regardless of their agenda, were less happy than rural residents with no migration experience, but, who were quite similar to them in other aspects.

00:21:44 - less happy prob there were many possible reasons why they were less happy because of the institutional barriers, discrimination, the need to adapt and adjust to new environment. Also, it could be a shift of frame of reference, right? So in my comparison group would be different, right? I, I saw many people who are richer than me. So, I might be less satisfied with my circumstances,

Addressing Barriers for Migrant Wellbeing

00:22:12 - so then I think what, what's very important here is that what highlight the importance of eliminating barriers and reducing discrimination in general for migrants. so it's important still to minimize the risk restriction of the household registration system to give migrants, equal access to social services, maybe providing migrants met with,

00:22:42 - and training opportunity, training opportunities. So these can benefit both men and women. but it's also true that I was, the study identified, vulnerable group groups that are particularly vulnerable part, first would be the migrant men. so, and one possible explanation for migrant men's decline in psychological wellbeing, is that,

00:23:17 - relative superior positions was threatened during the migration process. and their masculine ideals may be compromised during migration. so, so intervention that seek to tate migrant men to more equal gender values may help improve their mental, state. another vulnerable group, as you also mentioned, is,

Support Programs for Migrant Women

00:23:51 - we found that they didn't maintain the disadvantages gained during the migration process. so social programs and, organizations in rural areas, if they can provide more support for emotional or social support for these women, for example, to discuss their problems may be helpful, or training programs so that women can gain skills

00:24:33 - situations may also be helpful to these women, right? So, interventions that can improve the wellbeing of both men, women, and also for these vulnerable groups, groups may be, helpful.

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