Relative poverty and urban living willingness of new-generation migrant workers-Evidence from the China Migrant Dynamics Survey

Improving the quality and extent of urbanization and promoting the healthy and stable development of cities are important issues for governments worldwide. Taking China as an example, this paper empirically tests the direct impact of multidimensional relative poverty among the migrant population on their willingness to stay in cities through a series of robust analyses, including multivariate ologit regression and the instrumental variable method. It also uses willingness to stay as a mediator variable to further test the comprehensive impact of multidimensional relative poverty on the urbanization rate. The study reveals that for new-generation migrant workers, the lower the degree of multidimensional poverty is, the stronger their intention to stay in cities is, and settlement thresholds and occupational stability play a positive moderating role in this process. The results of the mediation effect test show that alleviating the multidimensional relative poverty of the migrant population helps increase the urbanization rate and that willingness to stay plays a mediating role. The results of the study not only provide new ideas for increasing the urbanization rate in developing countries but also offer a policy reference for developed countries to prevent the reversal of the urbanization and accelerate urban innovation.