Careers and Intergenerational Income Mobility

Catherine Haeck () and Jean-William Laliberté
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Catherine Haeck: University of Montreal

No 16273, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: This paper uses Census microdata linked with tax records to quantify the contribution of career choices - occupations and fields of study - to intergenerational income mobility. We document substantial segregation into occupations by parental income. Yet, the occupations children pursue explain only a third of the intergenerational persistence of income. We further describe patterns of intergenerational occupational following and show they vary substantially across occupations, with low-paying occupations showing more persistence across generations on average. However, clustering into occupations based on parental income is mostly independent of parental occupations. Our results demonstrate that occupational persistence only weakly contributes to income immobility.

Keywords: occupational choice; intergenerational mobility; income inequality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J24 J62 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 34 pages
Date: 2023-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his and nep-lab
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Published - published in: American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 2025, 17 (1), 431–458

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Journal Article: Careers and Intergenerational Income Mobility (2025)
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