Demography
Volume 52, Issue 4, 2015, Pages 1321-1343

For Better or Worse: The Health Implications of Marriage Separation Due to Migration in Rural China (Article)

Chen F.* , Liu H. , Vikram K. , Guo Y.
  • a Department of Sociology, Maryland Population Research Center, University of Maryland, 2112 Art-Sociology Building, College Park, MD 20742, United States
  • b Department of Sociology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, United States
  • c Department of Sociology, Maryland Population Research Center, University of Maryland, 2112 Art-Sociology Building, College Park, MD 20742, United States
  • d Department of Sociology, Maryland Population Research Center, University of Maryland, 2112 Art-Sociology Building, College Park, MD 20742, United States

Abstract

Massive rural-to-urban migration in China has led to spatial separation of millions of married couples. In this article, we examine the question of whether the well-documented health benefits of marriage extend to left-behind individuals in rural China who are spatially separated from their spouses. Using longitudinal data that span 16 years (China Health and Nutrition Survey 1991, 1993, 1997, 2000, 2004, 2006), we compare the self-reported health trajectories of adults across different marital statuses while taking into account the physical location of their spouses. Our results suggest a clear health disadvantage of married individuals whose spouses are absent compared with those whose spouses are living in the same household. Further, longer spousal absence is more harmful to an individual’s health. Finally, spousal absence and longer physical separation from their spouses induce stronger health deficits for married men than for married women, suggesting that a gendered process is at work. © 2015, Population Association of America.

Author Keywords

China Migration Gender Health marriage

Index Keywords

China longitudinal study Alcohol Drinking drinking behavior demography human epidemiology Health Behavior middle aged Longitudinal Studies sex difference statistics and numerical data rural population time factor health status Time Factors Marital Status family size Family Characteristics Residence Characteristics marriage Humans smoking Adolescent Infant, Newborn male preschool child Socioeconomic Factors Infant Child, Preschool newborn female socioeconomics adult migration Sex Factors Transients and Migrants divorce Child

Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84938964645&doi=10.1007%2fs13524-015-0399-9&partnerID=40&md5=1a795b7da4f5fc5d73b9d9ee60dee13e

DOI: 10.1007/s13524-015-0399-9
ISSN: 00703370
Cited by: 9
Original Language: English