Inter-Generational Mobility of Social Status Driven by the Competition of Personal Efforts and Family Background
In the report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China,it was pointed out that the great achievements of the new era are achieved through the joint efforts of the Party and the people.Struggle is the foundation of personal development,the prerequisite for achieving the expected social status,and the driving force for economic and social development.It is also a strong driving force for national development and social civilization progress.However,whether an individual's efforts can achieve the expected goals,in addition to personal factors,will be influenced by family factors,society and systems.In reality,facing social structure limitations and external survival pressures,there is a"lying flat"lifestyle that many young people tend to retreat,not compete,and not seize opportunities.Is personal"hard work"still useful?Whether we can achieve higher social status through"hard work"?Answering this question well has very important practical value.This paper examines the contribution of personal effort,an individual self-induced factor,to the acquisition of social status and its realization path.The estimation results of the path model based on the China Labor Force Dynamic Survey(CLDS)data show that individual efforts have a significantly positive impact on the acquisition of social status,including direct promotion effect,and also mediating channels such as going to college,joining the Party,starting a business,and working in institutions within the system,which reflects that China's social structure has a mobility mechanism or channel for the upward mobility.The robustness test is carried out by using instrumental variables,replacing explanatory variables,and adding more control variables,and the above results are supported.The empirical results also show that the role of"hard work"is still less than the social status of the parents,but the marginal return of"hard work"is higher.Further dividing the sample into four generations,namely,before 60,after 60,after 70,and after 80,the changes in inter group coefficients and the significance test results of their differences show that the role of"hard work"is rising,while the role of parental social status is weakening,reflecting the trend of rising intergenerational mobility in China;and efforts have a greater impact on families at the bottom of society.In short,individual efforts have significantly improved social status and promoted social mobility,but from a macro perspective,the political,economic,and cultural systems that play a leading role are also influencing the degree and direction of social mobility.Although the role of family factors behind individuals in social mobility and class crossing is decreasing,they are still relatively strong.How to eradicate or weaken the institutional factors that lead to social solidification still requires a long-term process.Therefore,China still needs to accelerate the reform of the social system,completely eliminate the institutional obstacles that restrict social mobility and social equity,establish and improve market rules for fair competition,provide equal development opportunities for all sectors of society,ensure that the general public can improve their social status through efforts,thereby stimulating the people's spirit of struggle and providing strong spiritual driving power for economic growth and social development.
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