A Comparative Study on Migration Patterns and the Integration of Rural-Urban Migrants in Shenzhen between 2017 and 2024

Over the past few decades, China has witnessed increased movement, greater migrant diversity, and more heterogeneous motivations. Distinctive patterns of migration might associate with different migrant integration outcomes. Shenzhen has the highest proportion of rural-urban migrants among Chinese cities, which makes it an excellent example of rural-urban migrants’ destination cities. To explore the lasting impact of COVID on migration patterns, the integration of rural-urban migrants, and the relationship between them, we used survey data in Shenzhen and conducted a comparative study between 2017 and 2024. Our research is one of the few that empirically investigates migration patterns and their association with integration outcomes (assessed by income and sense of belonging to the host city) among rural-urban migrants. Utilizing five key variables (migration motivation, duration, migration distance, family migration, migration frequency) and employing Latent Class Analysis, we identify three patterns of migration in both years: Individual Short-Term Labor Migration (ISTL), First-time Family Migration (FFM), and Multiple Family Migration (MFM). The following results hold for each year: ISTL migrants had the highest income, while FFM migrants had the lowest income; in contrast, ISTL migrants had the lowest level of sense of belonging, while FFM had the highest levels of sense of belonging. Our findings suggest that migrants and migrant families might be often caught in a dilemma of a balance between economic returns and non-economic well-being. However, the comparison of empirical evidence between 2017 and 2024 shows that current migrants start to pay more attention to family union and give higher priority to their and family members’ non-economic well-being. The positive selection process of the pandemic in terms of migrants’ settlement and the transformations of philosophy on life of the younger migrants might be the main reasons for these changes.