Research on intergenerational mobility

Dr Jo Blanden, University of Surrey and CEE Associate. (non-cognitive skills) Tel: +44(0)20 7852 3524 Email: j.blanden@lse.ac.uk

In 2004 and 2005 Blanden, Machin and co-authors published the striking finding that a son’s earnings were more closely associated with parental income for a cohort born in 1970 compared with one born 12 years earlier.

In the last few years research on intergenerational mobility has been developing on several fronts. First, work by Blanden, Gregg and Macmillan has tried to account for the fall in intergenerational mobility by considering how the growing relationship of family income with non-cognitive skills test scores, educational attainment and labour market experience led to the increased association between family income and earnings. Educational achievements, particularly those at 16, were found to be crucial.

Although interesting, the finding that intergenerational mobility fell for two cohorts born more than thirty years ago is a historical finding and has little relevance for evaluating the impact of policy on mobility today. With this in mind work by Blanden and Machin (and supported by the Sutton Trust) has examined the prospects for mobility of cohorts born after 1970. This can be assessed by looking at the changing relationship between family income and degree attainments and test scores. These remain stable, indicating that intergenerational income mobility is unlikely to have remained on a downward path for children born from the 1970s onwards.

‘Recent Changes in Intergenerational Mobility’ Jo Blanden and Stephen Machin, December 2007.
http://www.suttontrust.com/reports/mainreport.pdf