Sense of belonging and social identity on the settlement intentions of rural-urban migrants: evidence from China

ABSTRACT: Drawing upon data from the China Labor-force Dynamics Survey (CLDS) of 2012 and 2014, this paper uses the panel binary choice model to examine the determinants of the settlement intentions of rural-urban migrants. Results showed that both a sense of belonging and social identity play important roles in determining rural-urban migrants’ settlement decisions. Besides these, wage, education, and health also affect the willingness of migrant workers to settle in a given area. Therefore, to promote urbanization, policy-makers should pay attention to the subjective demands of rural-urban migrants. We suggested that decision- and policy-makers help such migrants improve their social networks and eliminate identity discrimination, so as to encourage their willingness to settle in cities.