Escaping from the identity enclave: Social inclusion events and floating migrants' settlement intention in China

Abstract

AbstractChina has undergone unprecedented waves of internal migration over the past decades. However, the discriminatory hukou system puts migrants into an ‘identity enclave’ which challenges migrants' perception of place and identity, thus reducing their settlement intention. In the meantime, existing literature has also highlighted the positive roles of social bonds and social networks in migrants' decision to stay. Based on the theories of social capital, this research explores the relationship between migrants' participation in social inclusion events (SIE) and their intention to stay (ITS) in host cities. Drawing data from the 2017 China Migrants Dynamic Survey (CMDS), this research constructs a multistep model and uses the self‐perceived inclusion level to examine this relationship. This work also differentiates between bonding social capital and bridging social capital and separately examines the relationship in low‐, mid‐, and high‐skill groups. The results show that participating in SIE helps with migrants' ITS. Particularly, it also helps migrants to feel more included, which is an important trigger for them to stay. The findings could be informative for scholars and policymakers to understand the means and approaches for migrants in China to become more integrated into their host places.