| Summary/Abstract |
is article studies the relationship between social and spatial mobility
of new urban migrants and residents. e objective is to present the
inuences of the household registration system on the social mobility of
China’s new urban migrants through a comparison of the di erences
and similarities between these two groups. Two data sets are adopted in
this article: the Blue Book of Youth Nos. 1 and 2 and in-depth interviews
conducted during the summers of 2009, 2010, and 2011.
ematic analysis was employed to understand their social mobility
a er spatial mobility. Results show that new urban migrants are relatively
vulnerable. While society generally expects them to assimilate
rather than achieve upward social mobility, the hukou system limits
their access to social welfare and security. Meanwhile, new urban residents
who have access to advantages consider themselves lower-middle
class in terms of consumption, and maintain certain flexibility to
further establish their social and economic status. In this article,
“opportunity” is a significant theme. New urban residents strive to
leverage their urban resident status to create individual wealth.
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