Under the household registration system of China, the floating population is defined as those whose registered permanent residence is in the original residence, and who live and work in the current residence with separation from registered permanent residence(1–3). According to < China Statistic Almanac>(2019), the floating population was 244 million in 2017 and 241 million in 2018(4).The "Statistical Bulletin of National Economic and Social Development 2019" released by the National Bureau of Statistics declare that there is 236 million floating population in 2019 (5). According to this situation, the floating population in the future will maintain this considerable volume. (6). Settlement intention is defined as the thoughts of the floating population about future relocation arrangements after they have been in their current residence for some time. Nowadays, there exist differences in social welfare and public service treatment between the floating population and residents. To effectively promote the social integration between them, improve the floating population's settlement intention, further accelerate the urbanization process, promote economic development, it is of certain practical significance to discuss the floating population's settlement intention and its influencing factors.
It has been shown that the individual characteristics of the floating population, the characteristics of the place of origin and current residence all influence the floating population's settlement intention, such as whether to purchase urban housing and housing conditions(7, 8), family migration (9), environment and regional differences(10, 11);, education level, work status, social integration(2),etc. However, little attention has been paid to the impact of the basic medical insurance of urban employees (UEBMI) and social security cards on the floating population's settlement intention. Researchers have demonstrated that participating in UEBMI and applying for social security cards can improve the happiness of the floating population and further enhance their willingness to settle. Therefore, the research idea of this article is to use the survey data of China's floating population dynamic monitoring in 2017 (Volume A), apply binary logistic regression and structural equation model to analyze the influence of UEBMI and social security cards on the floating population's settlement intention. To examine the comprehensive causal relationships, "social integration" is introduced as a mediator variable. Therefore, this paper answers the following research questions:
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What effect do UEBMI and social security cards have on settlement intention?
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Will UEBMI and social security cards affect the floating population's settlement intention through social integration?
The remainder of the paper is as follows: The second section reviews the literature on migration theory and the role of UEBMI and social security cards. The third section introduces the data source, assignment, and research methods. The fourth section gives the results of binary logistic regression and structural equation model. The fifth section analyzes the above results. The last section gives conclusions and provides recommendations for the government.
Literature Review
Theoretical framework
The most widely used migration theory is the push-pull theory, which originated in the 19th century. E. G. Ravenstein first analyzed population migration and proposed the "seven laws" of population migration. Later, Rudolph Heberle proposed in the "The causes of rural-urban migration a survey of german theories ", push and pressure were the most important factors affecting the flow(12). D.J. Bague first proposed the "push-pull theory" in the study of the reasons for the floating population. He believed that improving living standards were the purpose of the floating population. The factor that flowed out of the place of origin to improve living standards was the thrust, while the factor that flowed into the current residence was the pull (13). Combined with previous researches, the American scholar E.S. Lee proposed a systematic population migration theory in the 1960s—push-pull theory, the factors of floating population migration for the first time were divided into two categories, namely, push and pull, and the push was negative factors and pull was positive factors, both of which jointly affected the migration willingness of migrants (14).
Given the fact that many factors are impacting the floating population's settlement intention, combining the push-pull theory and existing researches, researches classify these factors into four categories: inflow factors, outflow factors, barriers between inflow and outflow areas, and the floating population's self-factors (15).
The importance of UEBMI and social security cards
Medical insurance is a social insurance system that prevents workers from becoming too economically burdened due to illness. UEBMI is a social medical insurance system that guarantees employees' basic medical rights according to law. It enforces through laws and regulations. Implement the basic mode that the society plans as a whole medical treatment fund and individual medical treatment account union. After paying a certain period, you will enjoy medical insurance reimbursement for life. On the one hand, UEBMI is the government's means of realizing income redistribution and promoting social equity. On the other hand, it is also a guarantee of maintaining social stability, alleviating the worries of sick workers, and working with peace of mind.
Social security cards are electronic certificates for workers to work in the field of labor security. There are two types: urban employee social security card and resident social security card. They can verify the identity of the patient when purchasing medicine or medical treatment, store personal account funds, and record the medical consumption of the insured. The setting of UEBMI and social security cards in the current residence plays an important role in the settlement intention of the floating population.
Study on the influence of medical insurance on the settlement intention of floating population
Medical insurance, as a way of obtaining economic compensation in case of illness or accident, profoundly affects the quality of life of the floating population. However, the long-term marginalization of the floating population in their current residence and the difficulty in securing public services and the right to health have led them to be cautious in deciding whether to settle in current residence in the future. Therefore, the research on the influence of medical insurance on the floating population’s settlement intention has received increasing attention from the academic community and policymakers in recent years. The current residence provides medical insurance for the floating population in the new environment will improve the stability of their life and work prominently.
(16, 17). Studies have shown that different regions participate in medical insurance situation is different, and the older, the higher the education level, the higher the income, the children living in the place of arrival, and the poor health status of the floating population has a higher willingness to participate in medical insurance (18). The floating population participating in the new rural cooperative medical insurance need to return to their hometown because they cannot reimburse the medical expenses in the current residence, while the floating population participating in UEBMI can be directly reimbursed by a higher proportion., so they are more willing to settle down in the current residence(19, 20).