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Do Nutrition and Health Affect Migrant Workers' Incomes? Some Evidence from Beijing, China
Author(s) -
Zheng Shi,
Wang Zhigang,
Wang Holly,
Song Shunfeng
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
china and world economy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.815
H-Index - 28
eISSN - 1749-124X
pISSN - 1671-2234
DOI - 10.1111/j.1749-124x.2010.01215.x
Subject(s) - beijing , china , disadvantaged , affect (linguistics) , migrant workers , demographic economics , government (linguistics) , economic growth , medical insurance , business , economics , socioeconomics , labour economics , political science , sociology , actuarial science , linguistics , philosophy , communication , law
Migrant workers have become a major element of the labor force in Chinese cities, making important contributions to the economy while forming a socially disadvantaged group. Existing research on the relationship between the level of nutrition and health and income in China mainly focuses on farmers living in rural areas. Based on a Mincer equation and using a survey in Beijing, this paper examines the relationship between migrant workers' nutrition and health levels and their monthly incomes. We find that the nutrition intake and the body mass index have positive effects on income while duration of illness and daily working hours have negative effects. These conclusions imply that the Chinese Government should put more emphasis on improving migrant workers' well‐being, including offering educational programs on nutrition and health, and enhancing medical insurance and the old‐age insurance system.