Social Mobility and Happiness in China

Pianpian Carolyn Xu, Yale University

This paper examines the effects of inter-generational social mobility on happiness by using diagonal mobility models and ordered logistic model. The analysis uses the 2006 China General Social Survey. The results show that social mobility has made Chinese people happier. In general, for individuals whose parents’ occupational classes are the same, those who achieved upward mobility are happier than those had downward mobility or are immobile. The greater the degree of upward mobility they achieved, the happier they are, holding other factors such as age, education, and marrital status constant. Individuals who experienced downward mobility are less happy than those achieved upward mobility or are immobile. The larger degree of downward mobility they had, the less happy they are. Men's happiness is more influeced by his own current occupational status than his parents' occupational status when he was a teenager. The opposite is true for women.