Local, trans-local, and fellow townspeople ties: differential effects of social relations on physical health among China’s rural-to-urban migrants

Scarce attention has been paid to the distinct health effects of the three layers of social relations a rural-to-urban migrant is commonly embedded in – local connections with local urban communities, trans-local connections with family and hometown communities, and connections with fellow townspeople in the city who are from the same hometown. This study investigates their respective effects on physical health using the data from the 2017 China Migrants Dynamics Survey, China’s latest and largest national survey data on rural-to-urban migrants. From regression models with the Inverse Probability Weighted Regression Adjustment, the results show that the multilayered embeddedness of the migrant gives rise to differing, even diverging health effects of different types of social relations. While creating ties with local urban communities and maintaining ties with hometown communities are beneficial to migrants’ physical health, ties to a larger family and closer ties with fellow townspeople in the city are negatively related to physical health. The findings suggest the multifaceted nature of the linkage between social relations and physical health among migrants. Social relations affect physical health not only in positive ways, but also in negative ways.