How intergenerational mobility shapes migrant workers’ job quality: A multi- level empirical analysis in China

How intergenerational mobility shapes migrant workers’ job quality: A multi- level empirical analysis in China | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article How intergenerational mobility shapes migrant workers’ job quality: A multi- level empirical analysis in China Tianfeng Li, Cheng Fu, Ronggeng Chen This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8588080/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Intergenerational mobility exerts an important impact on the employment quality of the agricultural migrant population. Limited attention has been given to how intergenerational mobility influences the employment quality of rural-to-urban migrants. This study assessed this relationship by constructing an urban intergenerational mobility index and analysing the China Migrants Dynamic Survey data. Results indicate that intergenerational mobility significantly improves employment quality by promoting digital economy development and enhancing access to educational public service. The effect of education on employment quality follows an inverted U-shape relationship and is more prominent in cities with less fiscal pressure and those home to new generations of agricultural migrant populations. These findings demonstrate how intergenerational mobility indirectly improves employment quality by stimulating economic vitality and optimising the allocation of educational resources. intergenerational mobility employment quality agricultural migrant population education public services equal opportunity Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8588080","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":573698762,"identity":"dc4799c2-f21f-4701-9f06-f250adc0f17c","order_by":0,"name":"Tianfeng Li","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA6ElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACPmYGhgMMDHJAJvMBiNABAlrYmJlBaoxBzAQitTAwgyiQFh4DIrWw8x888HOHgZw5/5qPH3+2Mcjx3Uhg/FxAwGEHe88YGFvOeLtZmreNwVjyRgKz9AxCfuFt+5O44cbZbcyMbQxARgIbMw8hW/62GdRvuHHmGSPQYfVEaTnM22aQYHC+h40B6LAEAyK0GByWbTMw3HCDzVia55yE4cwzD5ul8Wnh5z/4+OPbNgN5g/OHH378UWYjz3c8+eBnfFoQQCIBTAIxYwNRGoD2HSBS4SgYBaNgFIw4AACkaUfcl1wt0gAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"Central South University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Tianfeng","middleName":"","lastName":"Li","suffix":""},{"id":573698763,"identity":"b537a21a-245e-4565-9243-73ad44f34a81","order_by":1,"name":"Cheng Fu","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Hunan University of Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Cheng","middleName":"","lastName":"Fu","suffix":""},{"id":573698764,"identity":"26d3e5af-2bd8-449b-8f6a-87d717c8efc6","order_by":2,"name":"Ronggeng Chen","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Fudan University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ronggeng","middleName":"","lastName":"Chen","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-01-13 06:38:44","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8588080/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8588080/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":100201615,"identity":"02278a3c-9fbf-4e3e-b998-fca1feb921be","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-01-14 05:09:19","extension":"docx","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":112333,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"mobility1.13.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8588080/v1/6da7c3a0dbe3ade900075796.docx"},{"id":100201614,"identity":"483a7d2f-1324-4568-8eee-77a640e48150","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-01-14 05:09:18","extension":"json","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":4458,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"565cd5ee0e4a4844b978a4ffea00f076.json","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8588080/v1/86ee2e63b360ddd5e66062ca.json"},{"id":100201613,"identity":"254a7859-f445-4661-ba3c-2e816f2487f6","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-01-14 05:09:18","extension":"xml","order_by":2,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":216888,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"565cd5ee0e4a4844b978a4ffea00f0761enriched.xml","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8588080/v1/d8a3efef40eab0d22b75ea1f.xml"},{"id":100201622,"identity":"b11410aa-e66d-4df1-83ed-8e49ca5055be","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-01-14 05:09:23","extension":"xml","order_by":3,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":215173,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"565cd5ee0e4a4844b978a4ffea00f0761structuring.xml","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8588080/v1/14952aae5184593344782a52.xml"},{"id":100201619,"identity":"f569cde4-9595-416b-9c72-466fd02c762b","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-01-14 05:09:21","extension":"html","order_by":4,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":238967,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"earlyproof.html","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8588080/v1/a9bf2a4870cc9bb62e66838c.html"},{"id":105935973,"identity":"73084e23-93fc-47c7-9732-36b2eb0290f8","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-04-01 14:58:29","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":631211,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"mobility1.13.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8588080/v1_covered_d80d512a-a826-4d16-af00-557a38b0ad1c.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"How intergenerational mobility shapes migrant workers’ job quality: A multi- level empirical analysis in China","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"intergenerational mobility, employment quality, agricultural migrant population, education, public services, equal opportunity","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8588080/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8588080/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"Intergenerational mobility exerts an important impact on the employment quality of the agricultural migrant population. Limited attention has been given to how intergenerational mobility influences the employment quality of rural-to-urban migrants. This study assessed this relationship by constructing an urban intergenerational mobility index and analysing the China Migrants Dynamic Survey data. Results indicate that intergenerational mobility significantly improves employment quality by promoting digital economy development and enhancing access to educational public service. The effect of education on employment quality follows an inverted U-shape relationship and is more prominent in cities with less fiscal pressure and those home to new generations of agricultural migrant populations. These findings demonstrate how intergenerational mobility indirectly improves employment quality by stimulating economic vitality and optimising the allocation of educational resources.","manuscriptTitle":"How intergenerational mobility shapes migrant workers’ job quality: A multi- level empirical analysis in China","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-01-14 05:08:49","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8588080/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"3e579cba-c5ed-4247-b09e-1f899aac55e3","owner":[],"postedDate":"January 14th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-04-01T14:56:49+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-01-14 05:08:49","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8588080","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8588080","identity":"rs-8588080","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}