491 - Thematic Session. Social Mobility in Hard Times

Session Submission Type: Invited Session

Abstract

The Great Recession has been deeper in scope and longer in duration than any in recent memory, and led to large spikes in unemployment and underemployment. Moreover, the expansion that preceded the Recession was uncharacteristically weak, especially with regard to wage growth. This panel explores the implications of these economic events for social mobility. It begins by examining recent data on mobility rates in order to gauge their impact. It then asks how the economic dislocations of recent years have affected individuals’ class identification and their future expectations. Finally, it raises the question of what reforms might improve the mobility prospects of those who grow up in poverty.

Sub Unit

• Thematic Sessions

Session Organizer

• Elliot Weininger, State University of New York-Brockport

Presider

• Fabian T. Pfeffer, University of Michigan

Individual Presentations

• The Social Recession: How the Financial Collapse of 2008 Affected Americans' Assessments of their Class, Employment Security, and Economic Prospects - Michael Hout, New York University; Orestes 'Pat' Hastings, University of California-Berkeley

• Has Mobility Declined? - Lane Kenworthy, University of Arizona

• Hardened Selves: Working-class Youth and the Betrayal of the Future - Jennifer M. Silva, Harvard University

• Is There Much Social Mobility in the United States? New Answers from a New Administrative Source - Pablo Andres Mitnik, Stanford University; Victoria Bryant, Internal Revenue Service; Yujia Liu, University of South Carolina; Michael Weber, Internal Revenue Service; David B. Grusky, Stanford University