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Americans’ occupational status reflects the status of both of their parents

Author

Listed:
  • Michael Hout

    (Department of Sociology, New York University, New York, NY 10012)

Abstract

American workers’ occupational status strongly reflects the status of their parents. Men and women who grew up in a two-earner or father-breadwinner family achieved occupations that rose 0.5 point for every one-point increase in their parents’ statuses (less if their father was absent). Gender differences were small in two-earner families and mother-only families, but men’s status persisted more when the father was the sole breadwinner. Intergenerational persistence did not change in the time the data cover (1994–2016). Absolute mobility declined for recent birth cohorts; barely half the men and women born in the 1980s were upwardly mobile compared with two-thirds of those born in the 1940s. The results as described hold for a socioeconomic index (SEI) that scores occupation according to the average pay and credentials of people in the occupation. Most results were the same when occupations were coded by different criteria, but SEI produced the smallest gender differences.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael Hout, 2018. "Americans’ occupational status reflects the status of both of their parents," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 115(38), pages 9527-9532, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:nas:journl:v:115:y:2018:p:9527-9532
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    Cited by:

    1. Michael Grätz, 2022. "When less conditioning provides better estimates: overcontrol and endogenous selection biases in research on intergenerational mobility," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 56(5), pages 3769-3793, October.

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