Self-employment of Older Workers in China: The State and the Life Course

• In Event: 349 - Section on Aging and the Life Course Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 10. Work and Retirement

Abstract

This article considers self-employment among older workers aged 45 and over in China from a life course perspective. Specifically, it focuses on the impact of institutional change (e.g. the evolution of policies), which is reflected as reform time periods on older workers’ individual life chances during social and economic transformations occurring in China. It further investigates the economic well-being of older workers who make job transitions. For the analysis, 2011-2012 national baseline survey data of the CHARLS (China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Survey) are employed. Key findings are: in rural areas, in an era dominated by a planned economy (1978-1995) this played an important role in older workers moving into self-employment. A further market reform (1996-2002) saw a strong effect on older workers’ entry into self-employment in urban areas. However, in the recent reform years (2003-2011), older workers were inclined to choose wage-earning sectors in both rural and urban areas. Further, our results reveal that entry into self-employment at older ages was not an opportunity pursuit but a survival strategy, especially in the most recent decade. The vulnerable labour market situation of older workers due to ‘state policy-induced social changes’ is discussed.

Authors

• Ge Yu, Jacobs University

• Klaus Schoemann