IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/qss/dqsswp/1301.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The role of non-cognitive and cognitive skills, behavioural and educational outcomes in accounting for the intergenerational transmission of worklessness

Author

Listed:
  • Lindsey Macmillan

    (Department of Quantitative Social Science, Institute of Education, University of London)

Abstract

Previous work has shown that there is a significant intergenerational correlation of worklessness for the UK which varies across local labour markets (Macmillan, 2011). Using a decomposition from the intergenerational mobility literature (Blanden et. al, 2007), this research is the first to consider the drivers of this transmission. I consider the role of four sets of characteristics of the son in childhood; his non-cognitive skills, cognition, behavioural outcomes and educational attainment, to assess which characteristics are important predictors of later workless spells and whether those characteristics are associated with growing up with a workless father. The wide range of characteristics can only account for 12% of the intergenerational transmission, with the vast majority remaining unaccounted for. While cognition and education dominate the intergenerational transmission of incomes, non-cognitive skills and behavioural outcomes play a more important role in the intergenerational transmission of worklessness. Many of the characteristics considered become increasingly important predictors of future worklessness as the unemployment rate in the local labour market increases. This descriptive analysis suggests that there are benefits to improving the soft skills of the most disadvantaged children, alongside their attainment, to ensure a successful connection with the labour market in adulthood.

Suggested Citation

  • Lindsey Macmillan, 2013. "The role of non-cognitive and cognitive skills, behavioural and educational outcomes in accounting for the intergenerational transmission of worklessness," DoQSS Working Papers 13-01, Quantitative Social Science - UCL Social Research Institute, University College London.
    • Handle: RePEc:qss:dqsswp:1301
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://repec.ucl.ac.uk/REPEc/pdf/qsswp1301.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Johnson, Paul & Reed, Howard, 1996. "Intergenerational Mobility among the Rich and Poor: Results from the National Child Development Survey," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 12(1), pages 127-142, Spring.
    2. O'Neill, Donal & Sweetman, Olive, 1998. "Intergenerational Mobility in Britain: Evidence from Unemployment Patterns," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 60(4), pages 431-447, November.
    3. Philip Oreopoulos & Marianne E. Page, 2006. "The Intergenerational Effects of Compulsory Schooling," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 24(4), pages 729-760, October.
    4. Gary S. Becker & Nigel Tomes, 1994. "Human Capital and the Rise and Fall of Families," NBER Chapters, in: Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis with Special Reference to Education, Third Edition, pages 257-298, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Jo Blanden & Paul Gregg & Lindsey Macmillan, 2007. "Accounting for Intergenerational Income Persistence: Noncognitive Skills, Ability and Education," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 117(519), pages 43-60, March.
    6. Lindsey Macmillan, 2011. "Measuring the intergenerational correlation of worklessness," The Centre for Market and Public Organisation 11/278, The Centre for Market and Public Organisation, University of Bristol, UK.
    7. Erik Hanushek & F. Welch (ed.), 2006. "Handbook of the Economics of Education," Handbook of the Economics of Education, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 1, number 1, June.
    8. James J. Heckman & Jora Stixrud & Sergio Urzua, 2006. "The Effects of Cognitive and Noncognitive Abilities on Labor Market Outcomes and Social Behavior," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 24(3), pages 411-482, July.
    9. List, John A. & Rasul, Imran, 2011. "Field Experiments in Labor Economics," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 2, pages 103-228, Elsevier.
    10. Costas Meghir & Mårten Palme, 2005. "Educational Reform, Ability, and Family Background," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(1), pages 414-424, March.
    11. Tyra Ekhaugen, 2009. "Extracting the causal component from the intergenerational correlation in unemployment," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 22(1), pages 97-113, January.
    12. Hirvonen, Lalaina, 2010. "Accounting for Intergenerational Earnings Persistence: Can We Distinguish Between Education, Skills, and Health?," Working Paper Series 2/2010, Stockholm University, Swedish Institute for Social Research.
    13. Paul Gregg & Lindsey Macmillan, 2009. "Family Income and Education in the Next Generation: Exploring income gradients in education for current cohorts of youth," The Centre for Market and Public Organisation 09/223, The Centre for Market and Public Organisation, University of Bristol, UK.
    14. Edwin Leuven & Barbara Sianesi, 2003. "PSMATCH2: Stata module to perform full Mahalanobis and propensity score matching, common support graphing, and covariate imbalance testing," Statistical Software Components S432001, Boston College Department of Economics, revised 01 Feb 2018.
    15. Corak,Miles (ed.), 2004. "Generational Income Mobility in North America and Europe," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521827607.
    16. Fernando Galindo-Rueda & Anna Vignoles, 2005. "The Declining Relative Importance of Ability in Predicting Educational Attainment," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 40(2).
    17. repec:bla:obuest:v:60:y:1998:i:4:p:431-47:a is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Erik Hanushek & F. Welch (ed.), 2006. "Handbook of the Economics of Education," Handbook of the Economics of Education, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 2, number 2, June.
    19. Coate, Stephen & Loury, Glenn C, 1993. "Will Affirmative-Action Policies Eliminate Negative Stereotypes?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 83(5), pages 1220-1240, December.
    20. repec:feb:artefa:0109 is not listed on IDEAS
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Anna Zudina, 2017. "What Makes Youth Become NEET? The Evidence from Russian LFS," HSE Working papers WP BRP 177/EC/2017, National Research University Higher School of Economics.
    2. Paul Gregg & Lindsey Macmillan, 2020. "Intergenerational joblessness across Europe: the role of labour markets, education and welfare generosity," CEPEO Working Paper Series 20-11, UCL Centre for Education Policy and Equalising Opportunities, revised Jun 2020.
    3. Silvia Avram & Olga Canto, 2016. "Labour outcomes and family background: Evidence from the EU during the recession," Working Papers 414, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    4. Wouter Zwysen, 2015. "The effects of father’s worklessness on young adults in the UK," IZA Journal of European Labor Studies, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-15, December.
    5. Silvia Mendolia & Ian Walker, 2015. "Youth unemployment and personality traits," IZA Journal of Labor Economics, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-26, December.
    6. Gabriella Berloffa & Eleonora Matteazzi & Paola Villa, 2016. "Family background and youth labour market outcomes across Europe," Working Papers 393, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    7. Gabriella Berloffa & Eleonora Matteazzi & Alina Şandor & Paola Villa, 2019. "Mothers’ and children’s employment in Europe. A comparative analysis," DEM Working Papers 2019/14, Department of Economics and Management.
    8. Mendolia, Silvia & Walker, Ian, 2014. "Do NEETs Need Grit?," IZA Discussion Papers 8740, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Claire Tyler, 2016. "The role of non-cognitive and cognitive skills in accounting for the intergenerational transmission of 'top job' status," DoQSS Working Papers 16-03, Quantitative Social Science - UCL Social Research Institute, University College London.
    10. Silvia Mendolia & Ian Walker, 2015. "Youth unemployment and the effect of personality traits," Working Papers 84097960, Lancaster University Management School, Economics Department.
    11. Zwysen, Wouter, 2013. "Where you go depends on where you come from: the influence of father’s employment status on young adult’s labour market experiences," ISER Working Paper Series 2013-24, Institute for Social and Economic Research.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Anna Christina D'Addio, 2007. "Intergenerational Transmission of Disadvantage: Mobility or Immobility Across Generations?," OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers 52, OECD Publishing.
    2. Antoni, Manfred, 2011. "Lifelong learning inequality? The relevance of family background for on-the-job training," IAB-Discussion Paper 201109, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    3. Paul Gregg & Lindsey Macmillan, 2009. "Family Income and Education in the Next Generation: Exploring income gradients in education for current cohorts of youth," The Centre for Market and Public Organisation 09/223, The Centre for Market and Public Organisation, University of Bristol, UK.
    4. Mäder Miriam & Riphahn Regina T. & Schwientek Caroline & Müller Steffen, 2015. "Intergenerational Transmission of Unemployment – Evidence for German Sons," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 235(4-5), pages 355-375, August.
    5. Philip Oreopoulos & Kjell G. Salvanes, 2009. "How large are returns to schooling? Hint: Money isn't everything," NBER Working Papers 15339, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Valentino Dardanoni & Mario Fiorini & Antonio Forcina, 2012. "Stochastic monotonicity in intergenerational mobility tables," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(1), pages 85-107, January.
    7. Costas Meghir & Mårten Palme & Emilia Simeonova, 2013. "Education, Cognition and Health: Evidence from a Social Experiment," NBER Working Papers 19002, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Holmlund, Helena & Lindahl, Mikael & Plug, Erik, 2010. "The Causal Eff ect of Parent’s Schooling on Children’s Schooling," Working Paper Series, Center for Labor Studies 2010:8, Uppsala University, Department of Economics.
    9. Gabriella Berloffa & Eleonora Matteazzi & Paola Villa, 2016. "Family background and youth labour market outcomes across Europe," Working Papers 393, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    10. Helena Holmlund & Mikael Lindahl & Erik Plug, 2011. "The Causal Effect of Parents' Schooling on Children's Schooling: A Comparison of Estimation Methods," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 49(3), pages 615-651, September.
    11. Mevlude Akbulut-Yuksel & Belgi Turan, 2013. "Left behind: intergenerational transmission of human capital in the midst of HIV/AIDS," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 26(4), pages 1523-1547, October.
    12. Marc Piopiunik, 2011. "Microeconometric Analyses of Education Production in Germany," ifo Beiträge zur Wirtschaftsforschung, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, number 40.
    13. Paul Gregg & John Jerrim & Lindsey Macmillan & Nikki Shure, 2017. "Children in jobless households across Europe: Evidence on the association with medium- and long-term outcomes," DoQSS Working Papers 17-05, Quantitative Social Science - UCL Social Research Institute, University College London.
    14. Ashley C. Craig, 2023. "Optimal Income Taxation with Spillovers from Employer Learning," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 15(2), pages 82-125, May.
    15. Coban, Mustafa & Sauerhammer, Sarah, 2017. "Transmission channels of intergenerational income mobility: Empirical evidence from Germany and the Unites States," Discussion Paper Series 138, Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg, Chair of Economic Order and Social Policy.
    16. Oswald, Yvonne & Backes-Gellner, Uschi, 2014. "Learning for a bonus: How financial incentives interact with preferences," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 52-61.
    17. French, Eric Baird & O’Dea, Cormac & MacCuish, Jamie, 2021. "The Intergenerational Elasticity of Earnings: Exploring the Mechanisms," CEPR Discussion Papers 15975, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    18. Kai Hong & Peter A. Savelyev & Kegon T. K. Tan, 2020. "Understanding the Mechanisms Linking College Education with Longevity," Journal of Human Capital, University of Chicago Press, vol. 14(3), pages 371-400.
    19. Cobb-Clark, Deborah A. & Dahmann, Sarah C. & Salamanca, Nicolás & Zhu, Anna, 2022. "Intergenerational disadvantage: Learning about equal opportunity from social assistance receipt," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    20. Fuchs, Benjamin, 2016. "The effect of teenage employment on character skills, expectations and occupational choice strategies," Hohenheim Discussion Papers in Business, Economics and Social Sciences 14-2016, University of Hohenheim, Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    : Intergenerational mobility; unemployment; children; skills.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J62 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Job, Occupational and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion
    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:qss:dqsswp:1301. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Dr Neus Bover Fonts (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/dqioeuk.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.