A Longitudinal Analysis of Internal Migration, Divorce and Well-Being in China

The rapid economic growth in China has been accompanied by increases in internal migration as well as marital dissolution. Using longitudinal data from China Health and Nutrition Surveys covering over 19,000 individuals during 1989-2011, this paper modeled the inter-relationships between internal migration, divorce and individual well-being, tackling the conceptual and methodological aspects such as the joint determination of variables. First, random effects probit models showed that migration periods of husbands and wives significantly increased their respective chances of divorce. Second, results from dynamic random effects models for self-reported health showed different effects of separation periods for husbands and wives; divorce did not significantly lower health status. Third, dynamic models for systolic and diastolic blood pressures showed significant effects of migration durations of husbands and wives; men had lower systolic blood pressure following the divorce thereby indicating beneficial effects for unhappily married couples. Implications of the findings are discussed