The transition to adulthood in post-socialist China. A quest for meaning through the life course of young adults living in Beijing
This article explores the meaning of the transition to adulthood in post-socialist China. Based on a mixed methods survey conducted in Beijing between 2012 and 2014, it examines how the transition to adulthood has changed during the Chinese transition to market economy. Qualitative data, 45 in-depth interviews (F=25 and M=20), shed light on how young adults (aged 19-36 years) view adulthood. Quantitative analyses (N= 915) inform on cross cohort variations in the timing of the pathway to adulthood. The transition to adulthood of 615 people born between 1980 and 1985 (F=290 and H=325), and 300 people born between 1950 and 1959 (F=151 and H=149) was reconstructed by the means of a life course matrix. The first part of the article opens with a conceptual discussion and a comparative overview of changes in the transition to adulthood since the 1980s. After having introduced the Chinese context, the second part outlines the methodological design developed to collect the qualitative and quantitative data. The third part of the article highlights a postponement in the timing of the transition to adulthood. The last part of the article reveals that, contrary to Western countries in which individualistic criteria such as financial independence, independent decision-making and a sense of responsibility are ranked first in the meaning given by young people to the transition to adulthood, Chinese young adults give a pivotal importance to family roles and responsibilities. It also uncovers that these roles and responsibilities imply different consequences for men and women’s paths to adulthood.