"Voting with their feet": The impact of health services on the willingness of new generation of migrant workers to settle in the city

In the strategic context of comprehensively promoting "Healthy China" and new urbanization, it has become common practice to enhance the willingness of new generation migrant workers to settle in the city (NSW) by improving health services in the inflowing areas. However, whether this approach achieves the expected positive effects still lacks empirical testing. Based on data from the 2018China Mobility Dynamic Survey, we examined the effect of health services in receiving areas on NSW and the underlying mechanisms, focusing on health records (HR) and health education (HE). Our findings indicat that both HR and HE have a significant positive impact on NSW. Even after controlling for potential endogeneity using instrumental variables and conducting omitted variables and robustness tests, these findings remain consistent. Additionally, we identified some gender and regional mobility heterogeneity in the effects of HR and HE on NSW. The positive effect of HR on the willingness to settle in the city is more pronounced for new generation female migrant workers. The positive effect of HE is more pronounced for those with inter-provincial mobility. Mechanism testing confirmed that HR and HE could enhance the willingness to settle in the city by improving the subjective quality of life (SLQ) of new generation migrant workers. The findings provide empirical support for the development of public policies and hold significant reference value for expediting the acculturation of migrant workers and promoting the advancement of new urbanization.