Would resettlement be better? Understanding how poverty alleviation resettlement influences the well-being of poverty alleviation migrants in China

doi:10.1016/j.regsus.2025.100228

Abstract

Abstract:

Poverty remains one of the most pressing global challenges of this era, affecting millions of people across both developing and developed countries. The poverty alleviation resettlement (PAR) is a policy with Chinese characteristics for eradicating poverty. By integrating the Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and Amartya Sen’s Capability Approach, this study developed a theoretical framework to analyze the factors influencing the well-being of poverty alleviation migrants (PAMs). A telephone survey conducted between July and August 2022 in Hubei Province, Guizhou Province, Shaanxi Province, and Chongqing Municipality of China yielded 259 valid questionnaires. Using the partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), this study revealed that financial accessibility, health level, living conditions, and social networks significantly enhanced the well-being of PAMs, with living conditions having the strongest impact on the well-being of PAMs. Furthermore, the factors affecting well-being varied across age groups. Social networks played a more significant role in the elderly group, whereas health level had a greater impact on the young and middle-aged group. These findings deepen the understanding of the PAR and its effects on the well-being of PAMs, offering valuable insights for policy-makers and practitioners to refine poverty alleviation strategies and enhance social welfare.

Key words: Poverty alleviation resettlement (PAR), Poverty alleviation migrants (PAMs), Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, Amartya Sen’s, Capability Approach, Partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM)

LIU Bingsheng, YIN Yimeng, MA Li. Would resettlement be better? Understanding how poverty alleviation resettlement influences the well-being of poverty alleviation migrants in China[J]. Regional Sustainability, 2025, 6(3): 100228.

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References 88

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Province/municipality	County/district/city	Township or street	Community/site	Number of the respondents
Hubei Province	Yunyang District	Anyang Town	Anyangkou community	17
	Yunyang District	Liubei Town	Longyun coummunity	16
	Lichuan City	Wendou Township	Changshun centralized resettlement site	31
Guizhou Province	Fuquan City	Niuchang Town	Wuxin community	19
	Huishui County	Lianjiang Street	Xingfu yimin community	14
	Huishui County	Mingtian Street	Xinmin community	17
	Libo Country	Yupin Street	Xingwang community	15
	Duyun City	Xiaoweizhai Street	Siyuan community	14
	Duyun City	Shabaobao Street	Jinhengxing centralized resettlement site	16
Shaanxi Province	Pingli County	Laoxian Town	Jinping community	34
Shaanxi Province	Ziyang County	Chengguan Town	Renhe community	37
Chongqing Municipality	Qianjiang District	Chengnan Street	Qingping community	29

Variable	Item	Response
Financial accessibility (FA)	FA1: do you think you will be able to access financial support after the resettlement?	1, very much; 2, not bad; 3, general; 4, not so good; and 5, not at all
	FA2: do you think you will be able to adapt well to your current job after the resettlement?
	FA3: do you think there are more opportunities for job skill training after the resettlement?
Health level (HL)	HL1: what do you think about the health level of your household?	1, very much; 2, not bad; 3, general; 4, not so good; and 5, not at all
	HL2: do you think health problems have a significant impact on your livelihoods?
	HL3: do you think the level of healthcare in the resettlement community is high?
Living conditions (LC)	LC1: what do you think about the accessibility of school?	1, very convenient; 2, not bad; 3, general; 4, not so good; and 5, very inconvenient
	LC2: what do you think about the accessibility of marketplace?
	LC3: what do you think about the accessibility of community hospital?
Social networks (SN)	SN1: do you think you interact with your neighbors more after the resettlement?	1, very much; 2, not bad; 3, general; 4, not so good; and 5, not at all
	SN2: do you think you will be able to adapt quickly to your new social networks after the resettlement?
	SN3: do you think your family and friends will help you more after the resettlement?
Well-being (WB)	WB1: do you have a high socio-economic status?	1, very much; 2, not bad; 3, general; 4, not so good; and 5, not at all
	WB2: do you participate regularly in public affairs in your resettlement community?
	WB3: are you satisfied with your current quality of life?

Characteristic	Demographic factor	Category	Percentage (%)	Standard deviation
Individual characteristic	Gender	Male	76.10	0.427
	Gender	Female	23.90	0.427
	Age	18-34 years	4.20	0.833
		35-44 years	18.90
		45-60 years	42.90
		Above 60 years	34.00
	Province or municipality	Chongqing Municipality	11.20	0.971
		Guizhou Province	36.70
		Shaanxi Province	27.40
		Hubei Province	24.70
Family characteristic	Household size	2 persons	12.00	1.328
		3 persons	19.30
		4 persons	27.40
		5 persons	17.00
		>5 persons	24.30
	Number of family labor forces	1 person	29.30	1.390
		2 persons	29.30
		3 persons	18.10
		4 persons	7.30
		>4 persons	15.80

Variable	Item	Factor loading	VIF	Cronbach’s alpha	CR	AVE
FA	FA1	0.881	2.081	0.825	0.826	0.741
	FA2	0.865	1.914
	FA3	0.835	1.712
HL	HL1	0.871	1.942	0.742	0.750	0.664
	HL2	0.718	1.238
	HL3	0.847	1.865
LC	LC1	0.853	1.572	0.814	0.828	0.726
	LC2	0.845	1.972
	LC3	0.858	2.053
SN	SN1	0.771	1.450	0.757	0.770	0.671
	SN2	0.840	1.634
	SN3	0.846	1.531
WB	WB1	0.800	1.403	0.722	0.731	0.643
	WB2	0.755	1.363
	WB3	0.848	1.557

Variable	FA	HL	LC	SN
HL	0.552
LC	0.263	0.250
SN	0.458	0.328	0.386
WB	0.629	0.642	0.566	0.583