Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/278971 
Year of Publication: 
2023
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 16273
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
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.
Subjects: 
intergenerational mobility
occupational choice
income inequality
JEL: 
J62
J24
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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