Social Sciences in China

Vol. 38, No. 1, 2017

 

Intergenerational Mobility Modes and Changes in Social Class in Contemporary China

(Abstract)

 

Li Lulu and Zhu Bin

 

Using data from three China General Social Surveys, this paper analyzes changes in the basic situation of intergenerational mobility among social classes in China over the past

60 years. General social mobility was found to have increased, but social openness tended to show a wave-like pattern of change. Despite this, intergenerational inheritance was the main form of intergenerational mobility in every period. With the transformation of the socioeconomic system, the main mechanism of social exclusion changed from “systemic exclusion” to “market exclusion,” leading to changes in the structure of social opportunity. As a result, the form taken by intergenerational mobility varied significantly. This is chiefly evident in the gradual decline in the dominance of intergenerational inheritance among particular strata, with cross-class cyclical mobility becoming more difficult. On the one hand, changes in the social exclusion mechanism may increase social openness, making society more dynamic and strengthening social legitimacy. On the other hand, as the dominant class learns how to use market exclusion to achieve class reproduction, class solidification may still be possible in a future Chinese society.

 

Keywords: intergenerational mobility, market transition, market exclusion