To “persist” or to “exit”? A study on the subjective well-being of over-age migrant workers in the Chinese context

As a product of the intersection of China’s hukou system and population aging, over-age migrant workers (OMW) face a unique “dual identity threat”: institutional economic insecurity stemming from their migrant worker status and the risk of social isolation associated with their over-age status. According to identity-based health theory, this structural predicament should theoretically diminish their subjective well-being (SWB). However, a widespread phenomenon of “persisting” in labor rather than “exiting” persists among OMW. To uncover the actual impact of this decision, this study employs a two-way fixed effects model based on panel data from the 2011–2018 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). The findings reveal that, contrary to the theoretical prediction of identity threat, the subjective well-being of OMW is significantly higher than that of unemployed older adults with agricultural hukou (UOAAH). Mechanism analysis identifies earned income and social participation as the core pathways mediating this positive effect. Furthermore, heterogeneity analysis demonstrates that this “happiness dividend” is substantial among low-human-capital groups but diminishes in high-human-capital groups. The theoretical contribution of this study lies in constructing an “identity threat–agential response” framework by integrating identity-based health theory and productive aging theory. We argue that the “continued labor” of OMW is not merely an economic behavior but an agential practice that counteracts structural identity threats and reconstructs well-being.