Xi Song|Catherine Massey|Karen Rolf|Joseph P. Ferrie|Jonathan Rothbaum|Yu Xie
Long-term decline in intergenerational mobility in the United States since the 1850s
University of Pennsylvania|Welch Foundation|University of Nebraska at Omaha|Northwestern University|United States Census Bureau|Princeton University
make use newly available data include roughly 5 million linked household population records 1850 2015 document longterm trends intergenerational social mobility united states intergenerational mobility declined substantially past 150 slowly previously thought intergenerational occupational rankrank correlations increased less 017 high 032 change occurred americans born 1900 controlling relatively high mobility persons farm origins find intergenerational social mobility remarkably stable contrast relative stability rankbased measures mobility absolute mobility nonfarm populationthe fraction offspring whose occupational ranks higher parentsincreased birth cohorts born prior 1900 fallen born 1940