Social Stratification and Life Course in an Aging and Low Birth Rate Society: Focusing on the Impact of Class Origin

Abstract

This study aims to discuss the relationship between a person’s life course events and his/her class origin. By focusing on the impact of class origin on individual life events and life course, this study attempts to broaden the coverage of social stratification research, which often limits its scope to labor market outcomes. It examines the impact of class origin on three different stages of life course events: marriage by the time one reaches age 40, experience of standard life course (continuation of first marriage and child-rearing) at mid-life, and household type at old age. We analyze the 2015 National Survey of Social Stratification and Social Mobility (SSM Survey) data set, and examine the following three research questions: (1) Are there impacts of class origin on the three different stages of life course? (2) Are there any differences between the impacts of a father’s class and that of a mother’s? (3) Do the impacts of class origin differ by educational level? Our analyses show that the impacts of class origin are found in all three stages of life course, including the oldest stage. The impacts of class origin do not seem to differ by the educational level of respondents. The attainment of higher education does not offset the impacts of class origin. We therefore show that class origins continue to affect life events at various stages in a person’s life course.