Born to work longer? Lifetime socioeconomic dynamics, pension eligibility, and late-life employment in urban China

The expansion of an extended working life has been reported worldwide. While retirement researchers discuss socioeconomic inequalities in late careers in affluent Western countries, unequal retirement decisions in China have attracted growing attention. This study investigates the temporal socioeconomic dynamics of late-career behaviors, especially after pensionable ages, drawing from life course, social stratification, and mobility theories. Using prospective survey data from the China Health and Retirement Study (CHARLS) 2011–2020 and its retrospective survey data collected in 2014, we assessed socioeconomic status (SES) from childhood to mid-later adulthood and identified four social mobility trajectories of 3375 older adults in urban China. The results show that higher SES in adulthood was negatively associated with late-life employment, but the association with childhood SES was positive. Compared to stably low-status and downward mobility trajectories, upward mobility and stably high status were advantaged trajectories that reduced the odds of late-career employment. The effects of lifetime SES and socioeconomic trajectories on employment emerged mainly after reaching pensionable ages. Further analyses revealed that socioeconomic inequalities in late-career behaviors could be attributed to widening pension gaps, hukou -based welfare rights, and family financial needs. Overall, the life course processes of socioeconomic attainments and mobility, interacting with macro-level welfare systems, differentiate retirement behaviors in China.