“The Impact of Class Labels on Life Chances in China”, 2019 (; backlinks; similar):
In 1950, China’s new Communist government created hereditary family class labels intended to promote the advancement of households supportive of the Communist movement along with the economically disadvantaged and to penalize property owners and those associated with the old regime. Researchers have long suspected that the labels rewarded connections to the Communist movement more than the economically disadvantaged, while former middle-class & upper-class households continued to enjoy certain advantages. The long-term impact of these labels has yet to be firmly established.
The authors examine the factors affecting the initial assignment of class labels and their subsequent consequences for Communist Party membership and educational and occupational attainment. Using data from a 1996 national probability sample survey of China, the authors find that the class labels had a major impact on the life chances of individuals that persisted at least into the mid-1990s, although not always in the ways that were intended.
…To a substantial extent the effect of class origin is indirect, resulting from the effect of class on the advantages and disadvantages felt by grandparents and parents and by respondents at the beginning of their adult lives. But for many outcomes strong direct effects persisted, especially for those of Bad Class origin. For those of Red class origin, direct and indirect effects were in general both positive, in the sense that they increased the odds of the outcomes we studied. But for those of Bad class origin they often were contradictory, with indirect effects often increasing the odds of advantageous outcomes but direct effects decreasing the odds.
What does this pattern tell us? The direct effects are straightforward. Those of Red class origin were favored by the regime—the leadership of which was much like themselves—while those of Bad class origin were punished. But the indirect effects are perhaps more interesting. For those of Red class origin there is nothing particularly remarkable, because the increasing advantage simply reflects the combination of cumulative socioeconomic advantage, favorable treatment by gatekeepers to privileged positions, and the sense of entitlement that develops in those who are privileged from childhood. For those of Bad class origin, however, the often positive indirect effects suggest that despite hardship and humiliation Bad class families were able to sustain the motivations and skills that had made them successful enough in 1948 to be singled out for labeling and punishment by the new regime.
This echoes repeated findings that point to the role of family and kin groups in transmitting status across generations, sometimes over long historical periods.