Abstract:
How do childhood environments contribute to intergenerational economic mobility? This paper explores the relative roles of family background (parents' wages, income, and wealth during the early years), and neighbourhoods (including access to services during childhood), in determining intergenerational economic mobility in Egypt. The research leverages 25 years of panel data, across five waves, spanning 1998-2023. Relative and absolute changes within wage, income, and wealth distributions are examined, along with tests of origin independence. The findings demonstrate that, while there is substantial intergenerational mobility in both wages and income, there is, in contrast, strong intergenerational persistence in wealth. Family background plays a larger role than neighbourhood effects, and access to services has particularly little impact, suggesting that more robust public policies-beyond providing access to public services-are needed to address intergenerational inequality.
