Work‐Limiting Disability and Intergenerational Economic Mobility

Objective To examine whether work‐limiting disability may modify intergenerational economic mobility in the United States. Methods Using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, common metrics of intergenerational mobility are estimated by parent work‐limiting disability. These include rank slope coefficients capturing persistence of socioeconomic status and absolute upward economic mobility capturing expected child outcomes. Results Parent–child pairs with work‐limiting disability experience 5–12 percentiles lower absolute economic mobility at the 25th percentile of parent income. More severe and/or chronic conditions have larger disparities and higher parent income is associated with smaller disparities. Women may experience larger mobility differences, while non‐Hispanic black children may face a higher likelihood of parents experiencing work limitations. Conclusions Work‐limiting disability appears to modify children's economic opportunity. This contributes to the understanding of disparate access to opportunity in the United States while also identifying economic disadvantages associated with disability for subsequent generations.