Social, Cultural, and Civic Reintegration of Returning Rural Migrants in China: A Multidimensional Perspective

Understanding the reintegration of returning rural migrants in China is crucial due to the large scale of return migration and its associated challenges. While existing research has largely focused on economic reintegration, this study broadens the scope to include social, cultural, and civic dimensions. Using data from the China Labor-force Dynamics Survey (CLDS) 2016 and employing multilevel ordered logistic regression, the research uncovers the following key patterns: (i) Determinants differ largely across dimensions; (ii) The roles of the same determinants can also differ significantly across dimensions; and (iii) There are significant community-level variations across dimensions. The findings emphasize that success in one dimension, such as economic reintegration, does not necessarily translate into success in others. Moreover, complex interconnections between dimensions reveal positive, negative, and non-linear relationships, underscoring the multidimensional nature of reintegration. These insights highlight the importance of considering multiple dimensions to fully understand the reintegration processes of returning migrants.