Study on the social integration and family relocation decision of urban migrants based on Structural Equation Model

摘要

In the background of rapid urbanization in China, it is an important task to improve the level of social integration and solve the problem of discrete distribution of floating family members. A Structural Equation Model (SEM) of family relocation decision related to rural factors, urban factors and social integration was built in the paper to examine the influence mechanism of social integration and family relocation decision in Shanghai. It is found that floating populations integrate themselves into urban life with a positive attitude which is also the future choice of their children. However, compared to rural life, nearly half of those floating people do not feel real happy. In addition, the higher income of floating population is, the higher level of social integration will be, which will also enhance the chance of rural areas to offer economic supports, thus contributing to the decision of moving to the city. Simultaneously, the existence of rural contracted land provides the condition to return. The greater economic value of the contract is, the higher possibility of returning home. Therefore, in order to improve social integration and the quality of urbanization, the government should put an emphasis on the melioration of floating population employment, increase family income and establish basic public service for floating families.