Rural-to-Urban Migration in China and Late-Life Cognitive Trajectories: A Perspective From the Hukou System.

Abstract

Migrating to urban areas profoundly shapes later-life cognitive function. However, it is unclear whether the acquisition of urban citizenship matters in old age and how the rural-urban hukou differences in cognition change over time. In particular, the existing literature has overlooked the need to differentiate between the effects of health selection and urban hukou attainment. To address these gaps, we use data from five waves of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study. The results indicate that those who have obtained urban hukou through policies have better cognitive outcomes later in life compared to hukou non-converters, and these hukou-related differences grow with age. However, their cognitive abilities are lower when compared to merit-based hukou converters, who exhibit similar trajectories to lifelong urban citizens. These findings encourage not only a further breakdown of the urban-rural segregation structure in China, but more importantly, an improvement in the cognitive reserve of individuals.