What Determines Intergenerational Mobility?
Intergenerational mobility for any one individual is determined primarily by two factors: (1) the amount of opportunity in society, and (2) the rate of economic growth and associated change in the occupational structure. 2 These two components of mobility are discussed in additional detail below. 3 The Role of Opportunity Opportunity, in this context, is defined as the degree to which income and social status are determined by the innate skills and ambitions of an individual, and not by any inherited advantages or disadvantages. The more closely an individual’s socioeconomic status is determined by parents’ status, the less opportunity exists. The more independent the two are, the more opportunity is present, and the more likely it is that children with equal abilities will have an equal chance to succeed. 4 Intuitively, the concept of opportunity is simple enough. A society with a significant degree of opportunity would be one in which children reaped little or no advantage from being
