Rising Intragenerational Occupational Mobility in the United States, 1969-2011

• In Event: 293 - Regular Session. Social Stratification and Inequality

Abstract

Despite the theoretical importance of intragenerational mobility and its connection to intergenerational mobility, no study has documented trends in intragenerational occupational mobility since the 1970s. This paper fills this intellectual gap by presenting evidence of an increasing trend in intragenerational mobility in the United States from 1969-2011. The trend is decomposed using a nested occupational classification scheme that distinguishes between disaggregated micro-classes, and progressively more aggregated meso-classes, macro-classes, and manual and non-manual sectors. Log-linear analysis reveals that increasing mobility has been observed across most parts of the occupational structure. Controlling for structural changes in occupational distributions modifies, but does not substantially alter these findings. A further analysis shows that increasing mobility is particularly evident within clerical and service meso-classes, and less pronounced in the craft meso-class. Trends are qualitatively consistent for men and women. The discussion connects increasing mobility to other macro-economic trends dating back to the 1970s, including skill-biased technological change, economic globalization, private sector union decline, and precarious labor. The paper reasserts the sociological significance of intragenerational mobility and considers its important implications for trends in intergenerational mobility.

Authors

• Benjamin Fletcher Jarvis, Linköping University

• Xi Song, University of Chicago