White Collar, Middle Class and Consumption: Occupational Structure of Contemporary Middle Class and Its Life Situations

In the background of the socio-economic transition in China, especially the transformation of economic-growth mode and industry structure, some new trends on social structure and middle class emerged. This paper focuses on the occupational structure of the middle class and their consumption in relation to the socio-economic changes. Based on the data from the China Social Survey 2006-2015, it was found that the white-collar group exceeded half of the urban population. The middle class, mainly constituted by white-collar workers, accounted for about one quarter of the urban population. The transformation of occupational and industry structure indicated that urban China entered the stage of 'white collar society'. Although the white collar group is differentiated in terms of life chances, the new era of 'white collar society' has important implications for people's well-being as well as consumer culture of the society. According to the empirical analysis, on the one hand the quality of life of the middle class families is higher compared with the lower group and their aspiration for cultural and leisure consumption and durable goods is also significant-a new trend of 'consumption upgrade' initiated by the middle class is spreading to the whole society; on the other hand, the high housing expenditure and uncertainties associated with incomplete social security system restricted consumption and well-being of the middle class to a large extent. Policy suggestions emphasize building up modern service employment system so as to expand the middle class, and enhancing provision of the 'medium-high end' consumer market to cope with the trend of 'consumption upgrade'.