Farmers Public Employment Intergenerational Differences

With the rapid economic and social development in China nowadays, personality characteristics possessed by the younger generation of peasant workers are significantly distinct from those of the elder generation due to the different background of their birth and growth. Influenced by the disparate environment of both individual family and the entire society, rather than being a pure, homogeneous colony, peasant workers have polarized into two classes which are distinguished from each other in the aspects of their culture, conceptions and behavior. As far as the employment status is concerned, this leads to the so-called "intergenerational difference in employment" of peasant workers which is defined as the diversity and differentiation in choices/preferences of occupation and their working conditions. The 1^st generation of peasant workers refers to those born before 1980s who retreated from cultivation in villages around 80s and early 90s of the last century and poured into big cities to find a job. These people are provided with traditional features of peasants. The 2^nd generation refers to those who were born after 1980s and started to work in cities at late 90s.Based upon the investigation on the employment status of peasant workers in Hangzhou City, this study analyzes the intergenerational differences in employment existing in these two generations with positive proofs. First of all, it performs statistical research on the individual characteristics, social and economic characteristics, and their professional states in a comparative and descriptive manner. Then it employs the methods of Levene Test, T Test and Confidence Interval Test with independent samples to verify whether there is any significant difference in income, treatment, concurrent employment, and anticipation on future work between the two generations of peasant workers. It also determines whether age affects the motivation for the in/out flow of peasantry labor, measures in taking up occupation and major difficulties encountered. A hypothetical model on the formation of intergenerational difference is proposed based on the prior findings of relevant research and the datum information in current proofs. The hypothesis incorporates the Binary Logistics Model to analyze the cause of intergenerational difference in the aspect of concurrent employment, while the Mincertain Earning model is adopted to assess the formation of intergenerational difference in the aspect of earnings. Finally, the impact of regression of the proposed model is interpreted on the whole. Contributions from each individual factor on the formation of intergenerational difference are expatiated both theoretically and practically. The conclusions of this study are drawn based on the analysis of positive proofs, and recommendations are provided in terms, of how to deal with the developmental trend of the intergenerational difference in employment of peasant workers and make corresponding policies. The major findings and conclusions of this study are summarized as follows: (1) the 2^nd generation peasant workers significantly differ from the 1^st generation in the aspects of salary income, concurrent employment, and working experiences; (2) these two generations of peasant workers also have remarkable distinction in the motivation of mobility as well as the employment channels; (3) the intergenerational differences in concurrent employment are due to the different education levels among these two generations. The level of education has a positive correlation with the extent of concurrent employment. However, other influences which are not considered in this study - might weaken this relationship; (4) the differences in economical income between the 1^st and 2^nd peasant workers are caused by their differences in the level of education and working experiences.