Demographic, psychological, and social environmental factors of loneliness and satisfaction among rural-to-urban migrants in Shanghai, China

Abstract

This study examined factors of loneliness and satisfaction among rural-to-urban migrants in Shanghai, China. Data used in this study were from the Shanghai Rural-to-Urban Migrant Worker Survey conducted by the Institute of Demographic Research, Fudan University. Ordinal logit models were fit to test the hypotheses. A host of demographic, socioeconomic, psychosocial, and neighborhood factors were identified as strong correlates of loneliness and satisfaction among migrants. The effect of experienced discrimination was overwhelmingly negative on migrant mental well-being. Improving migrants' work and living environment, increasing neighborhood amenities, and taking measures to facilitate migrant family members' living together seem to be potentially fruitful ways to promote migrant mental well-being in China. © 2009 SAGE Publications.