The Impact of the Cultural Revolution on Trends in Educational Attainment in the People's Republic of China

Abstract

This article examines the effects of social origins on educational attainment, using data from the 1982 census of the People's Republic of China. Analysis of intergenerational relationships in China using census data is possible because nearly half of Chinese adult men live with their fathers. The authors show that the educational attainment of men is highly egalitarian with respect to social origins and has become increasingly so over time. During the Cultural Revolution (1966‐76), the advantage of coming from an educated family or an intelligentsia or cadre family was drastically reduced. The weak association between father's socioeconomic status and son's educational attainment reflects massive state intervention.

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