ABSTRACT
In 1978, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) made the radical move from a planned to a market-based economy. China's Communist past as well as lingering cultural influences have contributed to a specific modernization agenda. The new market economy, combined with increasing contact with the international arena, has encouraged an increase in independence and autonomy and has allowed for a new distinction between public and private spheres to be made. In 1980, the Marriage Law was revised, demonstrating the Party-State's new commitment to economic and social reform. The transition to a one-child family with the introduction of the birth planning policy in 1979 as well as to a market economy has resulted in a variety of benefits, challenges and concerns. The structures of the job market and the opportunities available to women have changed dramatically since reform. In the contemporary job market, youth appears to be a 'kind of currency'.
