The Unequal Pathways to Adulthood in China: A Holistic Approach of Assessing the Role Transitions

Rapid economic and social changes coupled with constantly changing policies have had impacts on the way in which young adults structure their pathways to adulthood in China. Different from previous studies on demographic markers in young adulthood in China where the focuses are on specific life events, our paper applies a holistic approach to the transition to adulthood based on the 2006 and 2008 waves China's General Social Survey. This study enhances the literature by examining the ways in which social class and structural factors influence the occurrence and timing of major life events as a whole. We have distinguished five prototypical pathways to adulthood. Clear differences are found in the trajectories types between four subgroups defined by gender and household registration status, as well as between father's social status. We also examine the evolution of transition using the typology built to reflect changes in both demographic and occupational spheres.