Table 1 Social and demographic characteristics of unmarried rural-to-urban migrants in the three chosen cities in China

Ethnic

Han

1622 (96.6)

1648 (95.2)

3270 (95.6)

minority

56 (3.4)

84 (4.9)

140 (4.1)

Education

Illiterate

14 (0.8)

20 (1.2)

34 (1.0)

Elementary school

46 (2.7)

194 (11.2)

240 (7.0)

Junior school

810 (48.2)

747 (43.1)

1557 (45.6)

high school/technical secondary school

640 (38.1)

582 (33.6)

1222 (35.8)

College and above

170 (10.1)

180 (10.9)

350 (10.3)

Age

15-19

412 (24.5)

602 (34.8)

1014 (29.7)

20-24

1012 (60.3)

994 (57.4)

2006 (58.8)

25-29

198 (11.8)

110 (6.4)

308 (9.0)

≥30

58 (3.5)

26 (1.5)

84 (2.7)

Work Experience (years)

Less than 1

261 (15.5)

254 (14.7)

515 (15.1)

1~

430 (25.6)

470 (27.1)

900 (26.4)

2~

312 (18.6)

338 (19.5)

650 (19.1)

3~

341 (20.3)

416 (24.0)

757 (22.2)

5~

228 (13.6)

178 (10.3)

406 (11.9)

≥10 year

108 (6.5)

76 (4.4)

184 (5.4)

Occupation

construction

20 (1.2)

0

20 (0.6)

traffic and storage

28 (1.7)

0

28 (0.8)

communication

10 (0.6)

4 (0.2)

14 (0.4)

trade and food

358 (21.3)

570 (32.9)

928 (27.2)

real estate

6 (0.4)

8 (0.5)

14 (0.4)

finance and insurance

6 (0.4)

10 (0.6)

16 (0.5)

manufacturing enterprise

916 (54.5)

896 (51.7)

1812 (53.1)

social work

238 (14.2)

166 (9.6)

404 (11.8)

Self-employed ^a

98 (5.8)

78 (4.5)

176 (5.2)

Monthly income (RMB)

Under 600

86 (5.1)

66 (3.8)

152 (4.5)

600~

756 (45.0)

986 (56.9)

1742 (51.1)

1000~

490 (29.2)

440 (25.4)

930 (27.3)

1500~

192 (11.4)

188 (10.9)

380 (11.1)

above2000

156 (9.3)

52 (3.0)

208 (6.1)

Migrated type

Inter province

960 (57.1)

950 (54.9)

1910 (56.0)

within province

720 (42.9)

782 (45.2)

1502 (44.0)

City

Guangzhou

662 (39.4)

708 (40.9)

1370 (40.2)

Shenzhen

490 (29.2)

522 (30.1)

1012 (29.7)

Wuhan

528 (31.4)

502 (29.0)

1030 (30.2)