Gender and Occupational Mobility in Urban China during the Economic Transition

Abstract

This paper examines the gender patterns of occupational mobility in post-reform Urban China using a national representative dataset. The results reveal marked differences between married men and women: women are more likely than men to undergo lateral or downward occupational changes, but are less likely to experience upward mobility. The results also show that the public-sector restructuring has increased the incidence of downward occupational mobility, more for women than men. The analysis suggests that women are disadvantaged in the occupational mobility process by a variety of social and institutional factors.Occupational mobility, Gender, Economic transition, Social networks