Abstract
Background: Little was known about the relationship between social insurance without health insurance and self-rated health comparison (SRHC). The present study aimed to investigate how social insurance schemes improved SRHC among employed migrants in urban China. Methods: The employed migrants aged 18 and above were selected from the 2009 Rural-Urban Migration in China project. Multiple probit regression models were adopted to identify the determinants of participation of social insurance. Multiple logistic regression models were used to analyze the relationship between unemployment insurance, pension insurance, and work injury insurance and SRHC. Results: In the sample, most of the participants were middle-aged, male, and uninsured persons. However, over 80% of them reported better SRHC. Health insurance contributed to the participation of social insurance. The social insurance schemes were associated with financial risk. Regarding the confounding effects of health insurance, the three schemes of social insurance were associated with SRHC. Conclusions: The result indicated that not all three, but two schemes of social insurance, could improve SRHC among the employed migrants.