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Subjective Well-Being Of China'S Off-Farm Migrants

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  • Russell Smyth
  • Ingrid Nielsen
  • Qingguo Zhai

Abstract

Existing research applying the Personal Wellbeing Index (PWI) in China is restricted to urban and rural samples. There are no studies for Chinese off-farm migrants. The specific aims of this study are (a) ascertain whether Chinese off-farm are satisfied with their lives; (b) investigate the equivalence of the PWI in terms of its psychometric properties; and (c) examine whether the responses to the PWI from participants falls within the narrow range predicted by the 'Theory of Subjective Wellbeing Homeostasis???. The PWI demonstrated good psychometric performance in terms of its reliability, validity and sensibility and was consistent with previous studies for Western and non-Western samples. The data revealed a moderate level of subjective well-being (PWI score = 62.6). While Chinese off-farm migrants lead hard lives, the PWI was within the normative range predicted for Chinese societies by the 'Theory of Subjective Wellbeing Homeostasis'. A likely explanation for this finding rests with the circular nature of migration in China. When China's offfarm migrants find it too difficult to cope in the cities, most have the fallback position that they can return to their homes in the countryside. This option provides an external buffer to minimize the inherent challenges of life which would otherwise impinge on the life satisfaction of China's off-farm migrants.

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Bibliographic Info

Paper provided by Monash University, Department of Economics in its series Development Research Unit Working Paper Series with number 02-09.

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Length: 18 pages
Date of creation: 02 Feb 2009
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:mos:druwps:2009-02

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Keywords: China; Personal Wellbeing Index; Subjective Wellbeing;

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References

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  1. Daniela Renn & Nicole Pfaffenberger & Marion Platter & Horst Mitmansgruber & Robert Cummins & Stefan Höfer, 2009. "International Well-being Index: The Austrian Version," Social Indicators Research, Springer, vol. 90(2), pages 243-256, January.
  2. Russell Smyth & Ingrid Nielsen & Qingguo Zhai, 2010. "Personal Well-being in Urban China," Social Indicators Research, Springer, vol. 95(2), pages 231-251, January.
  3. Ingrid Nielsen & Russell Smyth & Mingqiong Zhang, 2006. "Unemployment Within China's Floating Population: Empirical Evidence from Jiangsu Survey Data," Chinese Economy, M.E. Sharpe, Inc., vol. 39(4), pages 41-56, August.
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  16. Song, Lina & Appleton, Simon, 2008. "Social Protection and Migration in China: What Can Protect Migrants from Economic Uncertainty?," IZA Discussion Papers 3594, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
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Citations

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Cited by:
  1. Gareth Davey & Ricardo Rato, 2012. "Subjective Wellbeing in China: A Review," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 13(2), pages 333-346, April.
  2. Ingrid Nielsen & Olga Paritski & Russell Smyth, 2010. "Subjective Well-Being of Beijing Taxi Drivers," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 11(6), pages 721-733, December.
  3. Vinod Mishra & Ingrid Nielsen & Russell Smyth, 2010. "Relative Income, Temporary Life Shocks and Subjective Wellbeing in the Long-run," Monash Economics Working Papers 51-10, Monash University, Department of Economics.
  4. Steven Stillman & John Gibson & David McKenzie & Halahingano Rohorua, 2012. "Miserable Migrants? Natural Experiment Evidence on International Migration and Objective and Subjective Well-Being," CReAM Discussion Paper Series 1228, Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM), Department of Economics, University College London.
  5. Ricardo Rato & Gareth Davey, 2012. "Quality of Life in Macau, China," Social Indicators Research, Springer, vol. 105(1), pages 93-108, January.

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