Intergenerational Occupational Mobility in Great Britain and the United States since 1850
American Economic Review
vol. 103,
no. 4, June 2013
(pp. 1109-37)
Abstract
The US tolerates more inequality than Europe and believes its economic mobility is greater than Europe’s, though they had roughly equal rates of intergenerational occupational mobility in the late twentieth century. We extend this comparison into the nineteenth century using 10,000 nationally-representative British and US fathers and sons. The US was more mobile than Britain through 1900, so in the experience of those who created the US welfare state in the 1930s, the US had indeed been “exceptional.†The US mobility lead over Britain was erased by the 1950s, as US mobility fell from its nineteenth century levels.Citation
Long, Jason, and Joseph Ferrie. 2013. "Intergenerational Occupational Mobility in Great Britain and the United States since 1850." American Economic Review, 103 (4): 1109-37. DOI: 10.1257/aer.103.4.1109Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- J62 Job, Occupational, and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion
- N31 Economic History: Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy: U.S.; Canada: Pre-1913
- N32 Economic History: Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy: U.S.; Canada: 1913-
- N33 Economic History: Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy: Europe: Pre-1913
- N34 Economic History: Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy: Europe: 1913-