Does the Internet affect residents' subjective well-being in the post-epidemic era: Evidence from China

TheCOVID-19 pandemic has affected China's economic and social development on a profound scale, accelerating the progress of digitization and potentially exacerbating the inequality between urban and rural areas. The disparity between urban and rural China is reflected in income and the accessibility of infrastructures. These disparities may further affect residents' social attitudes and subjective well-being. Residents' subjective well-being is one of the most important indicators to measure the modernization of China's social governance system. Most existing studies on citizens' happiness in China have focused on income, economic growth, and social equity. However, less attention has been paid to information technology's impact on residents' subjective well-being,especially the Internet. In addition, labor migration has profoundly impact edwell-being levels, and existing studies indicate that migrant populations are particularly vulnerable under the covid-19 pandemic conditions. Based on the China Family Panel Survey 2020, this study will examine the effects of Internet use and social attitude on residents' subjective well-being in the post-epidemic era. By conducting multiple regressions, this paper will build a model to analyze the effects of Internet use and social attitude on residents' well-being, compare the differences between urban and rural populations, and examine the effects of subjective well-being on migrant populations. This study will help enrich the theoretical and empirical investigation of the relationship between Internet use and well-being in the post-epidemic era and provide suggestions to policymakers to reduce the urban-rural gap and improve the social system to ensure the social welfare of the migrant population.