Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No.2, 2018

 

Educational Expansion and Intergenerational Educational Mobility

(Abstract)

 

Luo Chuliang and Liu Xiaoxia

 

On the basis of the 2013 Chinese Residents’ Incomes Survey, we analyze intergenerational educational mobility and the distribution of benefits among different groups in the course of educational expansion. In general, educational expansion has raised educational mobility, reduced the possibility of downward intergenerational educational mobility, and increased the possibility of upward intergenerational mobility. However, the degree to which different families have benefited from the expansion of education is closely related to the urban-rural gap and the level of parental education. The expansion of basic education has been more advantageous to the children of less educated parents, whereas the expansion of higher education has made a greater contribution to children in families with higher levels of parental education and to urban children. In terms of changes in intergenerational mobility among different cohorts, the effect of educational expansion on raising education mobility is gradually decreasing. If, therefore, we are to promote the balanced development of educational modernization and build a nation that is an educational power, we need to make active adjustments at the policy level.