Background Self-employment is one of the most common forms of employment for migrant workers in China. However, migrant workers’ lifestyle and behavior, as well as health disparities among them, would be impacted by self-employment. This research aims to explore the mechanism and group differences of the effect of self-employment on health inequality among Chinese migrant workers. Materials and methods To explore the effect of self-employment on health inequalities among migrant workers, this research uses the data from the 2018 China Migrant Workers Dynamic Monitoring Survey, and the RIF-I-OLS decomposition method. Results We find that self-employment will reduce the health inequality of Chinese migrant workers significantly, especially among migrant workers with low education, low income, and low social integration. A further examination reveals that self-employment can directly promote the self-rated health of migrant workers. Additionally, it indirectly alleviates the health inequality among migrant workers by mediating effect of expanding access to public welfare, such as by establishing health records and strengthening health education. Conclusion The government should permit and encourage migrant workers to engage in self-employment. It is necessary to provide public services such as health education, health records, and health rights for migrant workers, and focus on the employment of migrant workers in city, especially those with low income and low education. we believe that measures should be taken to enhance migrant workers’ sense of belonging in urban China Only on this basis can health inequality among migrant workers be truly reduced.

Based on the dynamic monitoring survey data of China’s migrant population (CMDS) in 2017, this study analyzes the impact of public health education on migrant workers’ medical service utilization. The study found that public health education can significantly promote the utilization of migrant workers’ medical services and has a greater effect on the older generation groups, those who received secondary and higher education, and those working in first-tier cities. By distinguishing different types of public health education, it is found that smoking control education has the most obvious effect. Further differentiating disease types, the study found that the promotion effect of receiving occupational disease education is the highest, while the effect of receiving STD/AIDS education is relatively low. The mechanism test indicates that public health education has significantly improved migrant workers’ utilization of medical services by influencing their health literacy, social network, and psychological integration.

Since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID‐19) pandemic, the number of individuals infected with the COVID‐19 has been increasing worldwide, posed a substantial threat to mental health. Therefore, discovering the means for blocking the transmission path of COVID‐19 and improving mental health is of great significance. Based on a survey on the life of urban and rural residents in China (in 2020), the study applied the least squares method to analyse the effect of closed‐off management on the psychological anxiety and psychological stress caused by the COVID‐19 pandemic. Furthermore, the bootstrap decomposition method was used to test for the mediating effects of satisfaction with and confidence in pandemic prevention. The study found that closed‐off management in communities exerted a negative effect on psychological anxiety and stress caused by the COVID‐19 pandemic. Additionally, satisfaction with and confidence in pandemic prevention played a mediating role on the psychological anxiety and stress caused by the COVID‐19 pandemic. Therefore, closed‐off management in communities will not only prevent the spread of the COVID‐19, but also improve satisfaction with and confidence in pandemic prevention and control. Furthermore, it will alleviate the psychological anxiety and stress caused by the COVID‐19 pandemic.

Background With the prolongation of the life expectancy of the Chinese population and the intensification of the aging process of the population, the mental health problems of the elderly have become increasingly prominent. This study aims to explore whether self-employment can promote and how to promote the mental health of the elderly. Method Based on the 2018 China Longitudinal Aging Social Survey (CLASS) data, this paper uses OLS model and KHB method to verify the impact of self-employment on the mental health of the younger elderly and its mechanism. Results The results indicate that self-employment can significantly reduce the depression tendency of the younger elderly and promote their mental health. Heterogeneity analysis shows that self-employment has a more significant positive impact on the mental health of the younger elderly who are self-rated healthy, free of chronic diseases and low-level medical service utilization. The mechanism shows that self-employment can indirectly improve the mental health of the younger elderly through income growth effect and self-worth realization effect, in which the self-worth realization effect is greater than the economic effect. It illustrates that with the development of China’s economy, the elderly are pursuing more intrinsic values brought by self-employment than economic benefits. Conclusion In view of the above research results, it is suggested to encourage the elderly to actively participate in social activities, provide policy support for the younger elderly to engage in self-employment, increase government support as well as health guarantee level, and improve the subjective initiative of the elderly to participate in self-employment, so that the society can truly realize the healthy aging of “being useful and productive for the elderly”.

Digital literacy has been increasingly important among workers in the labour market, and it also has been viewed as a micro reflection of the growing of China’s digital economy. Internet use is an integral part of workers’ digital literacy, which has a significant influence on entrepreneurial decision-making. This paper aims to explore the direct impact of Internet use on entrepreneurship, analyzing the mechanism and group differences of Internet use. It has a practical meaning to China’s policies of promoting employment. Based on the data of China Labour Dynamics Survey (CLDS), the paper uses Probit model and 2SLS regression analysis to examine the direct impact of Internet use on entrepreneurship, and to analyze its mechanism by adopting the mediation effect model. The study indicates that Internet use has significantly increased the probability of starting a business, the impact has been stronger on the new generation, rural residents and the groups with work experience. Further analysis shows that Internet use not only increases venture capital, social capital and income, but also helps to shape individual workers’ learning ability, which has an indirect effect on promoting entrepreneurship. The above results show the way of promoting workers’ willingness of entrepreneurship, which are expanding Internet access, promoting policies of improving workers’ Internet skills, focusing on cultivating comprehensive cognitive abilities including risk awareness and learning abilities.