Assortative Mating, Inequality, and Rising Educational Mobility in Spain

Ricard Grebol (), Margarita Machelett, Jan Stuhler () and Ernesto Villanueva ()
Additional contact information
Ricard Grebol: affiliation not available
Margarita Machelett: Banco de España
Jan Stuhler: Universidad Carlos III de Madrid
Ernesto Villanueva: Bank of Spain

No 18351, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: We study the evolution of intergenerational educational mobility and related distributional statistics in Spain. Over recent decades, mobility has risen by one-third, coinciding with pronounced declines in inequality and assortative mating among the same cohorts. To explore these patterns, we examine regional correlates of mobility, using split-sample techniques. A key finding from both national and regional analyses is the close association between mobility and assortative mating: spousal sorting accounts for nearly half of the regional variation in intergenerational correlations and also appears to be a key mediator of the negative relationship between inequality and mobility documented in recent studies.

Keywords: assortative mating; intergenerational mobility; inequality; education (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I24 J12 J62 N34 R11 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-12
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