The standardisation of the life course in 20th-century China

In most Western countries, the patterning of the individual life course had reached a high level of uniformity by the 1960s. However, since the late 1970s, indications of an inverse tendency towards destandardisation of the life course have been observed, especially regarding life transitions and status sequences linked to family and occupation. Within China, little research has been conducted to examine the standardisation/destandardisation of the life course. This study uses life history data to take a preliminary step in addressing this question, using a sample of Chinese people born between 1920 and 1969 from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study. The sample is divided into five cohorts of individuals born in 1920–29, 1930–39, 1940–49, 1950–59 and 1960–69. We found that the life course of individuals in these cohorts generally shows a trend of increasing standardisation from the earliest to the most recent cohort, with the exception of the youngest cohort. There are substantively important group differences seen in the standardisation of the life course; a higher level of standardisation is seen in male and rural cohorts in the education–employment trajectories, compared to female and urban cohorts. Further, in terms of family life course, the standardisation of urban cohorts is higher than that of rural cohorts. Different domains of life course show inconsistent paces in their processes of standardisation; this can be seen manifested in the case of individuals’ education–employment trajectories, which tend to be more standardised than family life course.Key messagesThe life course of Chinese people born between 1920 and 1969 generally shows a trend of increasing standardisation.There is a higher level of standardisation in male and rural cohorts in occupational trajectories, compared to female and urban cohorts.In family life course, the standardisation of urban cohorts is higher than that of rural cohorts.