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Intergenerational mobility in the United States and Great Britain: a comparative study of parent-child pathways

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  • Blanden, Jo
  • Haveman, Robert
  • Smeeding, Timothy M.
  • Wilson, Kathryn

Abstract

We build on cross-national research to examine the relationships underlying estimates of relative intergenerational mobility in the United States and Great Britain using harmonized longitudinal data and focusing on men. We examine several pathways by which parental status is related to offspring status, including education, labor market attachment, occupation, marital status, and health, and perform several sensitivity analyses to test the robustness of our results. We decompose differences between the two nations into that part attributable to the strength of the relationship between parental income and the child's characteristics and the labor market return to those child characteristics. We find that the relationships underlying these intergenerational linkages differ in systematic ways between the two nations. In the United States, primarily because of the higher returns to education and skills, the pathway through offspring education is relatively more important than it is in Great Britain; by contrast, in Great Britain the occupation pathway forms the primary channel of intergenerational persistence

Suggested Citation

  • Blanden, Jo & Haveman, Robert & Smeeding, Timothy M. & Wilson, Kathryn, 2014. "Intergenerational mobility in the United States and Great Britain: a comparative study of parent-child pathways," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 59332, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:59332
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    Cited by:

    1. Juan C. Palomino & Gustavo A. Marrero & Juan G. Rodríguez, 2019. "Channels of Inequality of Opportunity: The Role of Education and Occupation in Europe," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 143(3), pages 1045-1074, June.
    2. Rasmus Landersø & James J. Heckman, 2017. "The Scandinavian Fantasy: Sources of Intergenerational Mobility in Denmark and the US," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 119(1), pages 178-230, January.
    3. Guangsu Zhou & Xiaoyu Bian, 2024. "The impact of intergenerational income mobility on internal migration in China," Economics of Transition and Institutional Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 32(1), pages 183-208, January.
    4. Timothy Smeeding, 2013. "GINI DP 89: On the relationship between income inequality and intergenerational mobility," GINI Discussion Papers 89, AIAS, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies.
    5. Juan C. Palomino & Gustavo A. Marrero & Juan G. Rodríguez, 2018. "One size doesn’t fit all: a quantile analysis of intergenerational income mobility in the U.S. (1980–2010)," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 16(3), pages 347-367, September.
    6. Fabian Koenings & Jakob Schwab, 2020. "Accounting for Intergenerational Social Immobility in Low- and Middle-Income Countries," Jena Economics Research Papers 2020-008, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, revised 12 Mar 2021.
    7. Michelle M. Miller & Frank McIntyre, 2020. "Does Money Matter for Intergenerational Income Transmission?," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 86(3), pages 941-970, January.
    8. Sander Wagner, 2017. "Children of the Reunification: Gendered Effects on Intergenerational Mobility in Germany," Working Papers 2017-03, Center for Research in Economics and Statistics.
    9. Florencia Torche, 2019. "Educational mobility in developing countries," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2019-88, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    10. Jermaine Toney, 2022. "Is there wealth stability across generations in the U.S.? Evidence from panel study, 1984–2017," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 40(4), pages 551-567, October.
    11. Kohei Kubota, 2017. "Intergenerational Wealth Elasticity in Japan," The Japanese Economic Review, Japanese Economic Association, vol. 68(4), pages 470-496, December.
    12. Jeremiah Richey & Alicia Rosburg, 2017. "Changing Roles Of Ability And Education In U.S. Intergenerational Mobility," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 55(1), pages 187-201, January.
    13. Kohei Kubota, 2017. "Intergenerational Wealth Elasticity in Japan," The Japanese Economic Review, Springer, vol. 68(4), pages 470-496, December.
    14. Soobin Kim, 2017. "Intergenerational mobility in Korea," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 7(1), pages 1-18, December.
    15. Diana Alessandrini & Bharat Diwakar, 2023. "The Intergenerational Effects of Recessions," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 69(4), pages 1060-1087, December.
    16. Tharcisio Leone, 2019. "The Geography of Intergenerational Mobility: Evidence of Educational Persistence and the “Great Gatsby Curve" in Brazil," Documentos de Trabajo 17526, The Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association (LACEA).
    17. Huang, Xiao & Huang, Shoujun & Shui, Ailun, 2021. "Government spending and intergenerational income mobility: Evidence from China," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 191(C), pages 387-414.
    18. Leone, Tharcisio, 2019. "The geography of intergenerational mobility: Evidence of educational persistence and the "Great Gatsby Curve" in Brazil," GIGA Working Papers 318, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies.
    19. Bruce Bradbury & Jane Waldfogel & Elizabeth Washbrook, 2019. "Income-Related Gaps in Early Child Cognitive Development: Why Are They Larger in the United States Than in the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada?," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 56(1), pages 367-390, February.
    20. Zhi-xiao Jia, 2022. "Regular employment and intergenerational income mobility in Japan," Eurasian Economic Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 12(2), pages 187-212, June.
    21. Bevis, Leah E.M. & Barrett, Christopher B., 2015. "Decomposing Intergenerational Income Elasticity: The Gender-differentiated Contribution of Capital Transmission in Rural Philippines," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 233-252.

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J62 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Job, Occupational and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion

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