Pursuing the Chinese Dream: Work and Family for Educated Migrants in Beijing

• In Event: 392 - Section on Asia and Asian America Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 06. Class, Inequality, and Social Mobility

Abstract

Chinese researchers are beginning to explore a new kind of migrant in Beijing: those with a college education. Their attention has focused on “ant tribes” – rural students, often the first in their families to go to college, who graduate and move to cities, only to face unemployment or underemployment and dire living conditions. This exploratory study aims to investigate the experiences of another group of educated migrant workers: rural students who after graduation are successful at gaining reasonable employment in Beijing. We explore the background, work experience, and attitudes toward family formation of ten college graduates. We find that interviewees generally feel fortunate to have jobs in Beijing, but the competitiveness and pressure of work and daily life is very high, particularly as both relate to the high cost of housing in Beijing. In addition, we find that work life has a significant impact on the attitudes toward family formation, with a striking pattern of women who want to delay or forego childbearing.

Authors

• Danielle Kane, DePauw University

• Yiting Li, DePauw University