Occupational Changes in a Generation in the United States, 1994-2016

• In Event: 2272 - Processes and Mechanism of Intergenerational Stratification

Abstract

American workers' occupational status reflected that of their parents. Men's median status in adulthood tended to rise five points for every ten-point increase in parents' status; women's median status rose less, about three points for every ten points of parents' status. Current occupational status of men and women aligned more closely to their father's status than to their mother's in combination (if both were employed) or alone (if only one was employed or if the person lived with only one of their parents). Median outcomes revealed more intergenerational persistence than the traditional approach of tracking mean outcomes. Mobility patterns did not change since 1994, and the correlation with father's status has changed little (or not at all) since 1972. Education mediated most of the intergenerational association but some differences persisted among people with less than college education.

Author

• Michael Hout, New York University