The decline in long-term earnings mobility in the U.S.: Evidence from survey-linked administrative data

Michael D. Carr and Emily E. Wiemers

Labour Economics, 2022, vol. 78, issue C

Abstract: The growth in cross-sectional inequality has sparked concern about its consequences for long-run economic outcomes. We use survey-linked administrative data to estimate trends in long-term earnings mobility in the U.S. since 1980 focusing on differential trends by gender, education, and race-ethnicity. We find that long-term earnings mobility has declined since the 1980s. Declines in upward mobility have occurred for both men and women, reversing a trend prior to 1980 of increasing long-run mobility for women. The largest declines in mobility are for women and college-educated workers, which is driven both by increases in the rank of earnings early in prime earning years and growing persistence in ranks across the earnings distribution.

Keywords: J31; D03; Earnings mobility; Inequality; Intragenerational mobility (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:labeco:v:78:y:2022:i:c:s0927537122000616

DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2022.102170

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