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Levels and trends in the income mobility of U.S. families, 1977−2012

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  • Katharine L. Bradbury

Abstract

Much of America?s promise is predicated on economic mobility?the possibility that people can move up and down the economic ladder during their lifetimes. Mobility is of particular consequence when economic disparities are increasing. Using panel data and mobility concepts and measures adapted from the literature, this paper examines 10-year income mobility levels and trends for U.S. working-age families during the time span 1977?2012. According to many measures, mobility, already limited in the 1978?1988 decade, declined over ensuing decades: families? later-year incomes increasingly depended on their starting place, and the distribution of longer-term family incomes became less equal.

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  • Katharine L. Bradbury, 2016. "Levels and trends in the income mobility of U.S. families, 1977−2012," Working Papers 16-8, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedbwp:16-8
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Brett Mullins & David L. Sjoquist & Sally Wallace, 2021. "Earnings mobility and the Great Recession," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 102(6), pages 2718-2732, November.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    income mobility; income inequality; income distribution;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination

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