Intergenerational Mobility: A Cross‐National Comparison
Title
Intergenerational Mobility: A Cross‐National Comparison
Author
Mazumder, Bhashkar
Research Area
Class, Status and Power
Topic
Social and Economic Inequality
Abstract
A goal in many societies is to ensure that individuals have the same opportunities for success irrespective of their circumstances at birth. While equality of opportunity is an elusive concept to measure, social science researchers have developed measures of intergenerational mobility to serve as a rough barometer. Presumably, societies in which where there is a high likelihood that families can improve their relative socioeconomic standing over generations are likely to be ones characterized by more widespread opportunity. In recent decades, a large and growing body of research that has used a variety of approaches to study intergenerational mobility with respect to income, education, and occupation has emerged. At this stage, the requisite data to conduct this kind of analysis is not available for all countries. Nevertheless, a few key patterns of results have emerged. First, intergenerational mobility appears to be most rapid in Nordic countries. Second, the United States and by some measures the United Kingdom appear to have lower rates of intergenerational mobility than other industrialized countries. Third, intergenerational mobility seems to be lower in developing countries, particularly those in Latin America. These conclusions are still tentative and may be revised as new and better data and more creative methods arise in future research.