A retrospective study on adult migration and quality of life in the Chinese population

Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine the mediating role of community health services and the moderating role of formal social support in the relationship between migration trajectory and individuals’ quality of life (QoL). Design/methodology/approach Using data from 16,604 adults aged 45 and above in the nationally representative 2014 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, this study used sequence analysis to identify typical migration trajectory patterns and conditional process analysis to examine their impact mechanisms on QoL. Findings This study found that the migration trajectories of Chinese adults can be divided into six clusters: “non-migrants,” “infrequent migrants,” “young adult migrants,” “late adult migrants,” “late life migrants,” and “frequent migrants.” The clusters of late-adult migrants and late life migrants had a significant direct effect on health-related QoL. Community health services played a mediating role in the relationship between late adult and late life migration trajectory types and health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Formal social support moderated the direct effect of young adult, late adult and late life migration trajectories and HRQoL. Practical implications Policy should differentiate between migrant types, offering targeted health services for early migrants and human capital training for all to maintain labor market competitiveness. Formal social support should prioritize disadvantaged migration trajectory groups to enhance their social welfare. Originality/value These findings advanced their understanding of how migration trajectory affected QoL by moving beyond single events to demonstrate the value of examining migration histories for their longitudinal health impacts.