Is destiny determined at birth?
- By Zhao Hui
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E-mail China.org.cn, September 28, 2012
Dou Xiaohong, a researcher with the Hunan Provincial Party School, has conducted a survey among college graduates in Hunan Province. He catalogued the graduates in terms of geography, age and education level and studied the relation between their "career development" and "family background."
The results revealed that the careers of the elder generation do have a huge influence on those of the next generation.
75.71% of interviewees believed that the careers of the elder generation have a huge influence on those of their children, whereas 16.76% strongly opposed this opinion, stating that a person's struggles can alter their fate. The remaining 7.53% did not provide a straight answer.
All 403 graduates surveyed took up an occupation in Hunan after graduating. Their parents are classified into four groups or levels even—high, medium, medium-low and low. The high level includes civil servants, managers and private owners; the medium level refers to professionals and clerks, self-employed labors and service staff, the medium-low level consists of workers and peasants, while migrant workers fall into the low level.
Dou found out that among the 223 graduates whose parents belong to the medium-low level, 160 find themselves on the same level as their parents. This phenomenon recurs across all four levels. Only 8 out of the 68 with parents from the low level managed to change their fate, whereas zero out of 30 graduates from the high level families fall into the lower categories .
73.37% of interviewees earning less than 3,000 yuan per month indicate that their parents earn similar wages.
"According to the survey, it is much easier for the second generation of the well-off to obtain a job than it is for the second generation of the poor." says Dou.
What's more, the survey shows that in the high- income industries, the number of the former is twice that of the latter.
In view of the source of employment, over three in ten of the second generation of the well-off land jobs in well-paid sectors such as finance, electric power industry and large state-owned enterprises, with the aid of their kinsfolk. However, only one in ten graduates from a poorer family can actually benefit from their relatives and their status. They obtain job hunting information mainly via college notice (58.55%), the job market (10.1%), a friend (9.2%) and online (7.3%). What's worse, their jobs are often without prospect, with half of them entering into small and medium enterprises and over 30% being rolling stones.
In addition, the second generation of the poor is found to change their jobs more frequently than those of the richer ones. "Employment stability is closely related to job quality," said Dou and he pointed out that graduates will not change their job again once they receive a high income.
Dou's sample survey also revealed that the rich generation's annual income can be 1.6 times higher than that of the poorer levels, supporting the theory of income fixation across different social classes.
34.96% of the interviewees state that struggles can alter fate.
"What you see and hear from you parents and the values you've inherited from them can never keep up with the current of the times; therefore you are already beaten by the rich at birth," an interviewee pointed out .
In a research conducted by Xiaoxiang Paper and Daxiang Website, 29.7% of respondents attributed their lack of social skills to the influence of their parents.
Can 'the second generation of the poor' change their destiny? About 25.08% of respondents believed that social diversity can actually create more opportunities, 34.96% believed that going all-out is the key to a better life and another 15.41% considered it necessary to spend more money on children's education. However, the remaining 22.05% still held the negative attitude that one can never change his or her fate through persistence.
In Dou's opinion, the humble background and shortcomings in character have a profound influence on the poor. He has witnessed numerous unfortunate graduates living in the low-rent student communities and was alarmed by their states of mind and judgments. They showed a tendency to feel dissatisfied with their careers and living standards and even shared some form of hatred for the rich-which probably results from a sense of injustice. Dou was even more startled by the fact that they thought quite poorly of the school, their careers and overall society and rarely felt the slightest hint of gratitude- even when they actually were well-paid.
Tsinghua University recently conducted a survey among 6,059 graduates, indicating that the second generation of the official earns roughly 13% more than any other. Second generation According to the survey, the parents' income, instead of any other elements such as geographical and educational backgrounds, has the largest influence on that of children. The more the parents make, the more their children can obtain.
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