How Migration in Later Life Shapes Their Quality of Life: A Qualitative Investigation of the Well-Being of the “Drifting Elderly” in China

China has experienced an increasing number of “drifting elderly” (elderly inter-province migrants because of non-employment reasons) due to urbanization and aging. Living in different environments, the elderly are susceptible to mental health problems. Thus we explore the well-being of the drifting elderly under the Chinese cultural context. According to the grounded theory approach, a qualitative study with 54 elderly inter-provincial migrant samples was conducted in Shanghai. Drawing from the “cognition, affection, and conation” theory and the migration theory, we built a framework for the drifting elderly’s well-being, including the impact factors (motivation, adaption pressure, and personality), well-being status (subjective well-being, psychological well-being, and social well-being), and consequences (future plan). Implications and future research directions are discussed.