The Settlement Intention of China's Floating Population in the Cities: Recent Changes and Multifaceted Individual-Level Determinants

This paper uses data from two surveys conducted in Fujian Province in 2006 and 2002 to examine the recent situation and changes in the settlement intention of China's floating population and its determinants, and the diversification process of the floating population's migration flow. The results suggest that while the intention of the floating population to settle in the cities has increased, the places of origin remain important final destinations of the floating population, and a significant proportion of the floating population are still in the process of continuing their circulating process and looking for their final destination cities. The paper also suggests that there is a gap between the floating population's intention to settle in the cities and their real action to do so, and that they are cautious in turning such intention into immediate action. The paper identifies a set of complex determinants for the settlement intention of the floating population in the cities, and indicates that female, young, unmarried, better educated, non-production workers, and Fujian-origin members of the floating population, are more likely to choose to settle down in the cities. Having non-agricultural Hukou status, higher household income, longer working contracts, better housing conditions, and a higher administrative status and bigger population size of the destination cities, are factors that promote the settlement intention of the floating population in the cities. The paper concludes that the final destination of the floating population's migration has been increasingly diversified, and it is of great importance to monitor and understand this diversification process. Copyright (c) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.