"A very fine and forensic piece of scholarship which sheds a fascinating light on the linkage between internal rural-urban migration and the access to and experience of health care in China. Highly recommended."

Colin Hay, Professor of Political Science, Sciences Po, Paris

This book focuses on the multifaceted reality of social and health constraints and health services access among migrants in China, by originally exploring the social strata, social networks, and the understanding of health and health services among migrants. Furthermore, this book investigates the health constraints and health services access of rural-urban migrants in the absence of equal social protection by the government. It argues that the main obstacles to access health services are not only the shortage of financial resources among rural-urban migrants, but also lie in the institutional blindness regarding health security provision, rural-urban dualism and the household registration system in China. The book highlights the key function that social networks play in health and health services access among migrants in China, which has rarely been discussed in previous studies. And it also discusses the understanding of health among migrants, and further analyses that although many migrants have not formed proper understanding of the connotation of health and have limited knowledge of health, prime responsibility should not be put on the migrants because their poor understanding of health mainly results from their rural perspective while health and health services access depend on the social-economic environment in which they live and work. 

This book would be of interest to people in migration studies, social exclusion and social welfare studies and to people interested in rural-urban migration and health in China.

Yan Li is a Professor of Social Policy at Nanjing University, China. He obtained a PhD from the University of Nottingham, UK. His main research areas are social security and social policy, migration studies, health inequalities and health promotion, social stratification and mobility, and China studies. Yan Li worked as a Lecturer and a Senior Lecturer at Nottingham Trent University, UK. He is also a Fellow of Higher Education Academy, UK (FHEA). He has published in major international journals, including Social Science & Medicine, Qualitative Health Research, BMJ, Journal of Contemporary China, among others. 

“This is, without question, an important and high quality research on the health choices, constraints and strategies of rural-urban migrants in China, of great value in understanding the contemporary Chinese Social Policy and Society and the problems of rural-urban migrants in China, and essential reading for policy experts and anyone interested in contemporary China.”

Gillian Pascall, Emeritus Professor of Social Policy, University of Nottingham, UK 

“Based on rich interviews in Beijing, Yan Li’s important lucid book advances understanding about heterogeneity in migrants’ health. The analysis provides a wealth of original insights into inequalities among migrants in exposure to physical and mental health risks, health implications of living conditions, health insurance coverage, access to health services, use of illegal clinics, social support in health emergencies, and access to public health knowledge.”

Rachel Murphy, Professor of Chinese Development and Society, University of Oxford, UK