Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No.2, 2015

Research on the Assimilation of the Floating Population in China

(Abstract)

Yang Juhua

On the basis of our analysis of individual and community data from the 2013 survey of the assimilation of the floating population, we can draw the following conclusions. Measured on the four dimensions of economic integration, social adaptation, cultural acquisition, and psychological identity, we find that the general level of social assimilation of the floating population is about normal, but it differs quite considerably among the four dimensions. Due to institutional obstacles and structural exclusion, the process of economic and social assimilation lags far behind cultural and psychological one, highlighting gaps in it; the floating population assimilates less well in migration from rural to urban areas than in migration between urban areas, revealing the stratification of assimilation; good community services and an accepting environment can effectively facilitate assimilation, revealing assimilation’s dependence on the community; and connections between migrants’ source and their destination and between them and local residents affect their level of assimilation, revealing the interactive nature of assimilation. Promotion of assimilation depends on individual efforts, but still more necessary is the elimination of the institutional obstacles of discrimination and exclusion to create a favorable institutional environment and social atmosphere.