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Migration and Split Households: A Comparison of Sole, Couple, and Family Migrants in Beijing, China

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  • C Cindy Fan
  • Mingjie Sun
  • Siqi Zheng

    (Institute of Real Estate Studies, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China)

Abstract

The practice of split households among rural–urban migrants in China has persisted for more than twenty years. In this paper we compare three forms of split households, differentiated by whether the migrant's spouse and children are left behind or have joined the migrant: sole migration, couple migration, and family migration. Our survey of fifty chengzhongcun (urban villages) in Beijing conducted in 2008 shows that couple migration and family migration are outcomes of rural Chinese actively rearranging their household division of labor in order to maximize earnings from urban work opportunities. Migrants' decision to leave the children behind or to bring them along depends on the children's age and whether migrants' parents are available to help. Contrary to expectation, more household members in the city signals neither stronger intention to stay nor greater trust in the host society. These findings highlight the importance of thinking about migrants as circulators and thinking about migration, including family migration, as not necessarily a prelude to permanent settlement. They also underscore the need to address the experiences of long-term split households, a discourse that has received much less attention than one that assumes that a family lives together most of the time.

Suggested Citation

  • C Cindy Fan & Mingjie Sun & Siqi Zheng, 2011. "Migration and Split Households: A Comparison of Sole, Couple, and Family Migrants in Beijing, China," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 43(9), pages 2164-2185, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:43:y:2011:i:9:p:2164-2185
    DOI: 10.1068/a44128
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Yuting Cao & Ran Liu & Wei Qi & Jin Wen, 2020. "Spatial Heterogeneity of Housing Space Consumption in Urban China: Locals vs. Inter-and Intra-Provincial Migrants," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-26, June.
    2. Yang Chen & Hongsheng Chen & Jinhua Liu, 2019. "Household Split, Income, and Migrants’ Life Satisfaction: Social Problems Caused by Rapid Urbanization in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-12, June.
    3. Bo Li & Qingfeng Cao & Muhammad Mohiuddin, 2020. "Factors Influencing the Settlement Intentions of Chinese Migrants in Cities: An Analysis of Air Quality and Higher Income Opportunity as Predictors," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(20), pages 1-18, October.
    4. Ting Li & Wenting Fan & Jian Song, 2020. "The Household Structure Transition in China: 1982–2015," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 57(4), pages 1369-1391, August.
    5. Qinyi Jiang & Yuanyuan Wang & Xiaomei Ye & Xinger Li & Weimin Pan & Yuqu Wang, 2024. "Human Capital, Life Satisfaction, and the Floating Population’s Urban Settlement Intention in Cities—A Case Study of Six Cities in the Pearl River Delta," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-23, June.
    6. Tan, Jing & Xu, Hao & Yu, Jingwen, 2022. "The effect of homeownership on migrant household savings: Evidence from the removal of home purchase restrictions in China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    7. C. Cindy Fan & Chen Chen, 2020. "Left Behind? Migration Stories of Two Women in Rural China," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 8(2), pages 47-57.
    8. Ying Zhao & Martin Dijst & Yanwei Chai, 2016. "Between haven and heaven in cities: A comparison between Beijing (China) and Utrecht (the Netherlands)," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 53(12), pages 2469-2487, September.
    9. Jingyue Zhang & Yipeng Tian, 2019. "Housework Division and Second-Child Fertility Anxiety among Couples in China: The Urban and Rural Differences," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(20), pages 1-14, October.
    10. Sylvie Démurger & Hui Xu, 2015. "Left-behind children and return migration in China," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-21, December.
    11. Feinian Chen & Hui Liu & Kriti Vikram & Yu Guo, 2015. "For Better or Worse: The Health Implications of Marriage Separation Due to Migration in Rural China," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 52(4), pages 1321-1343, August.
    12. Sylvie Démurger & Hui Xu, 2011. "Left-Behind Children and Return Decisions of Rural Migrants in China," Post-Print halshs-00625636, HAL.
    13. Jasmine Gideon, 2016. "Migration and Health: Examining the Linkages through a Gender Lens," Working Papers id:8247, eSocialSciences.
    14. Wang, Chunchao & Zhang, Chenglei & Ni, Jinlan & Zhang, Haifeng & Zhang, Junsen, 2019. "Family migration in China: Do migrant children affect parental settlement intention?," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 416-428.
    15. Zhen Wang & Mingzhi Hu & Yu Zhang & Zhuo Chen, 2022. "Housing Security and Settlement Intentions of Migrants in Urban China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(16), pages 1-16, August.
    16. Zhe Song & Chen Hao, 2022. "Housing price and criminal crime in China: direct and indirect influence," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(40), pages 4647-4663, August.
    17. Shenjing He & Junxi Qian, 2017. "From an emerging market to a multifaceted urban society: Urban China studies," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 54(4), pages 827-846, March.
    18. Ye Liu & Zhigang Li & Yuqi Liu & Hongsheng Chen, 2015. "Growth of rural migrant enclaves in Guangzhou, China: Agency, everyday practice and social mobility," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 52(16), pages 3086-3105, December.
    19. Christine Wen & Jeremy L. Wallace, 2019. "Toward Human-Centered Urbanization? Housing Ownership and Access to Social Insurance Among Migrant Households in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(13), pages 1-14, June.
    20. Junjie Gao & Lyubing Feng & Xianguo Yao, 2021. "Information Transmission Mechanism of Inequality of Opportunity and Effort on Settlement Intention," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-17, April.
    21. C. Cindy Fan & Tianjiao Li, 2020. "Split Households, Family Migration and Urban Settlement: Findings from China’s 2015 National Floating Population Survey," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 8(1), pages 252-263.
    22. Xiang Luo & Zuo Zhang & Xun Xu & Chongming Li & Lu Zhang, 2020. "Birth without raising: Impact of labor migration on the medical benefits for migrant children in China," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(2), pages 809-832, June.
    23. Yanan Li & Chan Xiong & Zhe Zhu & Qiaowen Lin, 2021. "Family Migration and Social Integration of Migrants: Evidence from Wuhan Metropolitan Area, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(24), pages 1-21, December.
    24. Chen Chen & C Cindy Fan, 2018. "Gender and generational differences in first outward- and first inward-moves: An event-history analysis of rural migrants in China," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 50(8), pages 1646-1669, November.

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