Abstract: Based on the consideration of the intergenerational differentiation of migrant workers, this paper makes use of data of the 2016 China Mobile Population Dynamic Monitoring Survey and employs the wage differential decomposition method to analyze the issue of household registration discrimination and intergenerational differences faced by the new and the older generations of migrant workers in the urban labor market. The findings of the research show that the wage difference between the new generation of urban and rural labors is wider than that of the older generation. The difference in individual characteristics is not enough to explain the intergenerational urban-rural wage difference, while the intergenerational difference of household registration discrimination is the main cause of intergenerational urban-rural wage difference. Compared with the older generation of migrant workers, the new generation of migrant workers suffered even more serious discrimination in the household registration. The study of the two different forms of discrimination on the basis of same work with different pay and ownership divisions shows that no matter what are the degrees of same work with different pay or the split effect of ownership, the new generation of migrant workers are suffering more than the older generation of migrant workers, but the difference in the degree of same work with different pay is the main reason for the intergenerational differences in household registration discrimination. Further analysis finds out that the difference in the degree of same work with different pay mainly comes from the intergenerational differences in the “salary premium” of urban migrants, the new generation of urban migrants has gained more “salary premium” in the urban labor market.

Key words: household registration discrimination; ownership division; intergenerational urban-rural wage differences