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Existing research has found that since the late 1960s, the pathway to adulthood in Western countries has undergone complex changes, but few studies have investigated such changes and the effect of childhood family background on the transition to adulthood within the Chinese context. This study aims to examine the role of childhood family background in the transition to adulthood among Chinese youth born between 1930 and 1979. We identified four clusters of trajectories to adulthood in both the family and occupational domain. In the occupational domain, more than a quarter of respondents fall into the cluster of high studies & non-agricultural employment and in the family domain, nearly one-third of the sample follows the clusters of marriage & one child and staying single longer, reflecting the increasing diversity and delay in transition to adulthood. Parents' occupations during childhood had a significant effect on both occupational trajectory and family trajectory. Higher occupational status of parents delayed the transition to adulthood, while lower occupational status of parents promoted the transition to adulthood. Family economic status during childhood had a greater effect on occupational trajectories. Young people with worse family financial situations in childhood were more likely to enter the labour market earlier, while those with better family financial situations were more likely to receive long-term education and delay entering the workforce. The mother's religious belief had a more significant effect on the family life course. Youths with non-religious mothers were more likely to fall into the unmarried or childless cluster. In the Chinese context, the political status of the father played an important role in adult transition. A father's Communist party membership in childhood was positively correlated with the likelihood that individuals would follow the pattern of trajectory to adulthood characterised by long-term education.

Studies have revealed a trend of de-standardization of trajectories to adulthood in both Europe and the United States since the late 1960s. However, few empirical studies have examined this trend in the Chinese context. This study constructed trajectory sequences of the transition to adulthood of Chinese youth, and used Shannon entropy to investigate the de-standardization of trajectories to adulthood among these young people. We found that standardization and de-standardization dynamics coexisted, depending on cohorts and life domains. The family life course trajectories (union formation and fertility) generally maintained a standardized tendency, and the occupational trajectories of early cohorts showed remarkable standardization. The cohorts of 1960–1969 and 1970–1979 presented a reversal trend toward de-standardization. There was significant sex and urban–rural heterogeneity in the occupational trajectories across cohorts. The standardization of early occupational trajectories of males was more pronounced than that of females, and that of rural residents was higher than that of urban residents.

BACKGROUND: Existing research has rarely examined an earthquake's sustained impact and the trajectory of the earthquake survivors' life satisfaction over time. This study aims to analyze longitudinal changes in life satisfaction of Wenchuan earthquake survivors and the impact of social capital and government relief policy. METHODS: This research applied a hierarchical linear model to longitudinal survey data collected after the earthquake. The survey was divided into three waves and was collected from Deyang City and Mianyang City of Sichuan Province. A random sampling method was used; a sample of 225 participants had valid responses over three waves of the survey. RESULTS: This study found that a survivor's social capital and the perception of the fairness of government relief policy have a significant effect on the trajectory of life satisfaction post-disaster. First, the initial life satisfaction of those with high social capital was significantly higher than of those with low social capital, whilst survivors with high social capital had a lower rate of change in life satisfaction. Second, one year after the earthquake, those who felt government policy was unfair had a lower life satisfaction than those who felt it was fair. However, from the first year to the fourth year after the disaster, survivors who believed that the government policy was unfair experienced a higher rate of change in life satisfaction than those who did not. Third, the fairness of government relief policy moderates the relationship between survivors' social capital and changes in life satisfaction. A fair policy of relief can reduce the negative impact of the lack of individual social capital on life satisfaction. CONCLUSIONS: Survivors reconstruct life satisfaction through their social network and the perception of the fairness of the government's post-disaster relief policy. Therefore, to promote the improvement of life satisfaction of survivors, it is necessary to cultivate social capital and ensure fairness of the relief policy.