Session 11

Migration, Policy, and Community Inclusion

Moderator: Dr. Shuyan Yang (Associate Professor, City University of Macau, China)

O11.1  Invisible Barriers, Visible Impacts: The Role of Perceptional Welfare Boundary in the Social Integration and Wellbeing of Migrant Children in China

*Qiaobing Wu¹

¹Department of Applied Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China

Abstract

Background and Purpose: Along with its rapid industrialization and urbanization, China’s massive internal migration has driven an unprecedented population flow from rural to urban areas over the past four decades. As the number of rural-to-urban migrants reached 178.71 millions in 2024, children migrating to the urban cities with their parents has also increased from 19.8 millions in 2000 to 71.1 millions in 2020. They face substantial challenges to health and wellbeing, largely influenced by the social integration of their families into the host society, which is shaped in part by their access to various welfare programs. Despite the ongoing reforms of household registration system (hukou), which traditionally ties welfare to one’s place of birth, has pushed forward equalizing welfare distributions among all Chinese citizens regardless of hukou status, migrants in the urban cities continue to face persistent barriers to essential welfare benefits and services. To better understand how these barriers shape the living experiences of migrant families, this study introduces the concept of “welfare boundary” and distinguishes its two forms –institutional and perceptional.  While institutional welfare boundary is grounded in formal policies that define migrants’ eligibility for welfare, perceptional welfare boundary captures migrants’ subjective experience of the hurdles encountered when navigating the urban welfare system. Adopting the conceptual framework of welfare boundary, this study aims to investigate how perceptional welfare boundary of migrants in the urban Chinese context influences the social integration of migrant families, which, in turn, predicts the wellbeing of children from these families.

Methods: Data were drawn from a cross-sectional survey with 1,800 pairs of migrant children and parents in three major Chinese metropolises—Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen. Perceptional welfare boundary (PWB) was assessed by a 26-item scale developed and validated in this study comprising four dimensions: enrolment, benefits, education and knowledge. Social integration was measured by a 23-item Social Integration for Migrants Scale through six dimensions: economic integration, acculturation, discrimination, social relationship, civic engagement and identity integration. Health and wellbeing were assessed through measures of self-rated health, mental wellbeing, depression and life satisfaction, using the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale, Centre for Epidemiological Studies Scale and the Satisfaction with Life Scale. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was employed for data analysis.

Results: The SEM results suggest that perceptional welfare boundary exerts significant direct effect on the depression of migrant children, but not on other outcomes. Various dimensions of social integration mediate the effect of PWB on various health and wellbeing indicators. Specifically, economic integration and civic engagement mediate the effects of PWB on children’s health and depression; acculturation and social relationship mediate the effects of PWB on children’s mental wellbeing and life satisfaction; discrimination also demonstrates a medicating effect on children’s mental wellbeing.

Conclusions and Implications: These findings highlight the importance of addressing not only formal welfare exclusion but also migrants’ perceptions of welfare access. Targeted policy interventions that reduce perceived welfare barriers and promote social integration may play a critical role in improving the health and wellbeing of children from migrant families.

O11.2  Diversified Demand-Driven Formation and Realization of Community Charity Space in Urban Villages: Mechanisms and Pathways

*Jiangxia Gu¹, Jieshan Fan²,  Xinyu Wu¹

¹Dept. of Social Work, Guangdong University of Finance and Economics, Guangzhou, China; ²Guangzhou Hengfu Social Work Service Agency, China

Abstract

Background and Objectives: (1) Research Background: Urban villages are regarded as the "third space" distinct from cities and rural areas. As a form of tertiary distribution, charity plays a role here, yet the charitable spaces in urban villages are often marginalized by capital-dominated commercial spaces and power-dominated political spaces, being treated as residual spaces. Diversified community workers engage in these charitable spaces through various channels, with different interest demands, resource mobilization discourse systems, and charitable space production modes. The concept of "goodness" serves as a crucial value driver for uniting various forces both inside and outside the community. Key questions arise: How are charitable spaces in urban villages produced? Who produces them? Can they shift from the margin to the center? Does the production of charitable spaces in urban villages represent a new type of socialist urban space? (2) Research Objectives: Adopting the concept and methods of realist evaluation, this study intends to analyze the internal causal relationships within the mechanism chain from four aspects: the initial context of charitable space production (conditions for the emergence of residual spaces), objectives (value goals and specific visualizable goals of charitable space production), approaches (paths for the expansion of charitable spaces), and outcomes (changes in social relations and the degree of spatial justice). (3) Research Questions: Context: What are the temporal and spatial characteristics of the context in which community charitable space production takes place? Mechanism: How do the dynamic mechanisms of community charitable space production emerge? Outcomes: How to construct a measurement system for the process and outcome effects of space production?

Methods: This study relies on social work service stations and participates in community charitable space construction experimental projects to conduct research through action. The steps are as follows: First, understand the issues of community charitable space in practice, discuss with actors, and focus on intervention problems. Second, propose and discuss intervention plans for community charity development. Third, put the plans into practice and adjust them timely during implementation. Fourth, observe the experimental effects through pre-test and post-test data of participants in the social experimental project. The effects are divided into surface effects and internal effects. The research team evaluates surface effects from the sustainability and social influence of charitable space works, and internal effects from the improvement of social-spatial relations in the community.

Results: The mechanism chain is manifested as: "In the specific context of urban villages → Multiple needs for space by diversified stakeholders are revealed/hidden → Community charitable spaces as residual spaces emerge/hide → Consensus/differentiation is gradually reached during the process of community workers seeking and accumulating charitable resources → Community charitable spaces expand/contract → A differentiated urban space different from capital and power-dominated spaces is formed/absorbed into the capital and power space system → Social relations in urban villages improve/worsen → Spatial justice is promoted/new spatial inequality is caused". Each research node corresponds to two opposing forces or forms, constituting the dialectics of space production.

Conclusions and Implications: Urban villages integrate the tradition of mutual aid and coexistence among ethnic groups in pre-industrial society, the large-scale and homogeneous spatial layout of industrial society, and the development trend of individualization and intellectualization in post-industrial society, representing a form of socialist urban space production. The state exerts a dominant role in space through the presence of street and residential organizatio

O11.3  Exploring Grief and Bereavement Among Older Chinese Immigrants in Los Angeles: A Pilot Art-Based Participatory Study

*Qianyun Wang¹, Cindy Sangalang¹,²

¹UCLA Department of Social Welfare, Los Angeles, USA; ²UCLA Department of Asian American Studies, Los Angeles, USA

 Abstract

Background and purpose: Grief and bereavement is a universal experience but highly related to cultural identities and social norms. This is particularly relevant within Chinese communities, where death is often considered taboo and discussing grief or emotional distress may carry “bad luck” and stigma. Older Chinese immigrants also face unique challenges in grief adjustment due to cultural and linguistic barriers, limited social support, and discrimination in healthcare settings. This pilot study employed Photovoice, a qualitative, art-based participatory strategy, to authentically capture and discuss these experiences through narrative and visual data. Based on an interpretative phenomenological epistemological orientation, this study is guided by the following research questions: 1) How do older Chinese immigrants experience and make sense of grief, bereavement, and its adjustment? 2) How do structural, cultural, and interpersonal factors shape older Chinese immigrants’ interpretations of grief, bereavement, and its adjustment experiences? 3) How do older Chinese immigrants narrate, visualize, and reflect on their grief, bereavement, and its adjustment experiences?

Methods: Five older Chinese immigrants participated in this pilot study. All completed initial in-depth interviews; four out of five participants captured photographs representing their grief experiences and took part in a follow-up photo-elicitation interview (PEI); three participants joined one focus group discussion. Data sources include interviews and the focus group discussion transcripts, participant photographs, demographic and feedback surveys, researcher memos, and field notes. Analysis followed Reflexive Thematic Analysis (TA), emphasizing researcher reflexivity throughout interpretation.

Results: Findings identify key themes: Transnational Grief and Coping, Parental Loss and Intergenerational Transmission, Grief Literacy and Cultural Understandings of Healing, and Visual Capture as Memory and Healing Tools. Participants reported that photography helped them express emotions and stories, and responded positively to the idea of future community photographic exhibitions.

Conclusion and Implication: The pilot study showed art-based and participatory approaches can foster collective healing and cultural dialogue around grief and bereavement, promote emotional well-being among older immigrants, and inform culturally responsive, community-based bereavement support to advance health equity for marginalized aging populations.

O11.4  Identifying and Optimizing Fertility Policy Tools: A Study Based on LDA Topic Modeling and Public Discourse Analysis

Sheng Chen¹, *Ruxuan LI¹

¹School of Public Administration, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, China

Abstract

Background and purpose: China's fertility rate continues to decline despite the implementation of the three-child policy and supportive measures, revealing a potential mismatch between policy supply and public demand. This study aims to identify the structural characteristics of current fertility policies from a policy tools perspective, analyze the core concerns of the public regarding fertility, and explore the mechanisms and manifestations of the supply-demand mismatch. The research questions are: What are the main themes and tool focuses of current fertility policies? What are the key concerns and pain points of the public regarding fertility? Where does the misalignment between policy supply and public demand lie? despite China's implementation of the three-child policy and supportive measures, the fertility rate continues to decline, which reveals a potential mismatch between policy supply and public demand. Therefore, the aim of the research is to systematically diagnose the specific composition of this "mismatch" through empirical analysis, thereby providing an evidence-based foundation for the precise optimization of

Methods: This empirical study employs a mixed-methods design. First, 74 national and local fertility policy documents (2021-2025) were collected as the supply-side data. Second, 3,256 relevant posts and comments from the social media platform Weibo (2021-2025) were crawled as the demand-side data. The research methodology combines Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) topic modeling and high-frequency word analysis. LDA models were constructed separately for the policy texts and Weibo texts to identify their respective latent themes. High-frequency word analysis, co-occurrence networks, and word clouds were used to deepen the understanding of thematic structures and public sentiment.

Results: The LDA model identified three core themes in policy texts: "Healthcare and Public Health," "Public Services and Social Support," and "Workplace Rights and Parenting Support," indicating that policy tools primarily focus on tangible safeguards and institutional guarantees. In contrast, Weibo text analysis revealed four public concern themes: "Emotional Stress During Childrearing," "Balancing Multiple Life Demands," "Realistic Responsibilities within Marriage," and "Expectations for Government Subsidies," highlighting deep-seated anxieties regarding personal time, mental well-being, marital quality, and the insufficiency of support. A comparative analysis demonstrates a significant supply-demand mismatch: policies emphasize macro-level, quantifiable "hard" support, while the public expresses unmet needs for "soft" environmental support addressing emotional, temporal, and relational challenges in daily life

Conclusions and Implications: The study concludes that there is a structural disconnection between the current fertility policy toolkit and the nuanced realities of public demand. Policies overly rely on instrumental, top-down tools while inadequately addressing the cultural, psychological, and gendered dimensions of low fertility. This mismatch may limit policy effectiveness. The implications suggest that future policy optimization should shift from a singular focus on material supply to a systemic approach that integrates "hard" safeguards with "soft" environmental construction. This includes fostering a culture of shared parenting responsibility, enhancing the quality and stability of marriage as a policy pillar, and designing tiered, dynamic subsidy systems to achieve a balance between universal incentives and targeted assistance, thereby bridging the gap between policy and public needs.

O11.5  Gendered Psychological Ramifications of Migration: Determinants of Depressive Symptoms among Korean Immigrant Women and Men in the United States

*Jonghyun Lee¹

¹School of Social Work, Bridgewater State University, Massachusetts, USA

Abstract

Background and Purpose: This study examines the determinants of changes in depressive symptoms among Korean immigrant women and men in the United States. It is grounded in three major theoretical approaches, including acculturation, stress, and coping. Immigration often requires significant lifestyle adjustments as individuals adapt to new cultural and social environments, which may increase vulnerability to psychopathology such as depression. By drawing on coping resources, immigrants attempt to mitigate the psychological challenges associated with acculturation. Previous research has identified several factors influencing depressive symptoms among Korean immigrants, including individual characteristics, English proficiency, economic status, and coping resources. These findings highlight the need to examine gender differences, as immigrant women and men may encounter different stressors and employ coping strategies shaped by their social roles and expectations. However, little is known about gender-specific determinants of changes in depressive symptoms among Korean immigrants. The current study addresses the following questions: (1) Do depressive symptoms differ between Korean immigrant women and men? (2) What determinants influence depressive symptoms among Korean immigrant women and men?

Methods: This cross-sectional study employed a non-probability sampling method. Participants included adult Korean immigrant women and men who migrated to the United States at age 18 or older and resided in the East Coast region of the United States. Data were collected through a self-administered survey consisting of five standardized Korean-language instruments and demographic measures. Responses from voluntary Korean immigrant women (n = 143) and men (n = 99) were analyzed using t-tests and hierarchical multiple regression analyses (R2).

Results: Findings indicated no statistically significant gender difference in depressive symptoms between men (M = 9.85, SD = 7.81) and women (M = 11.13, SD = 7.41), t (235) = 1.28, p = .20. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that coping resources, economic hardship, family cohesion, and individual characteristics explained approximately 24% of the variance in depressive symptoms among men, F (9, 86) = 3.02, p < .001, and 35.3% among women, F (9, 120) = 7.28, p < .01. Among women, self-esteem (10.96%) and social support (9.49%) were significant determinants of changes in depressive symptoms. Among men, length of stay in the United States (5.2%) and self-esteem (4.5%) were significant determinants.

Conclusions and Implications: Although gender differences in depressive symptom levels were not statistically significant, the findings suggest different determinants that affect changes in depressive symptom between Korean immigrant women and men. Coping resources, particularly self-esteem and social support, play important roles in reducing depressive symptoms among Korean immigrant women. For Korean immigrant men, longer residence in the United States appears to be associated with improved mental health, potentially reflecting greater social and economic integration. These findings highlight the importance of gender-sensitive mental health interventions for Korean immigrants. Future research should further examine how social interactions and economic conditions influence changes in depressive symptoms among Korean immigrant women and men.