Childhood Family Structure and Intergenerational Income Mobility in the United States

The declining prevalence of two-parent families helped increase income inequality over recent decades. Does family structure also condition how economic (dis)advantages pass from parents to children? If so, shifts in the organization of family life may contribute to enduring inequality between groups defined by childhood family structure. Using National Longitudinal Survey of Youth data, I combine parametric and nonparametric methods to reveal how family structure moderates intergenerational income mobility in the United States. I find that individuals raised outside stable two-parent homes are much more mobile than individuals from stable two-parent families. Mobility increases with the number of family transitions but does not vary with children’s time spent coresiding with both parents or stepparents conditional on a transition. However, this mobility indicates insecurity, not opportunity. Difficulties maintaining middle-class incomes create downward mobility among people raised outside stable two-parent homes. Regardless of parental income, these people are relatively likely to become low-income adults, reflecting a new form of perverse equality. People raised outside stable two-parent families are also less likely to become high-income adults than people from stable two-parent homes. Mobility differences account for about one-quarter of family-structure inequalities in income at the bottom of the income distribution and more than one-third of these inequalities at the top.     

城乡居民家庭代际收入流动的比较研究

基于CGSS2006的数据,本文对我国城乡家庭的代际收入流动性进行了比较分析,研究发现:我国城乡家庭的代际收入流动性偏弱,城镇家庭代际收入向上的流动性总体而言要高于农村家庭,代际收入流动性的差异客观上加剧城乡之间的收入差距;新生代城镇家庭子女收入向上流动的能力相对他们的前辈有所减弱,而新生代农村家庭子女收入向上流动的能力要超过他们的前辈,在与城镇同龄人的比较中也处于优势;人力资本是影响代际收入流动的主要因素,虽然在职业生涯的初期,教育并没有显著地提高代际收入向上流动的概率,但随着子女职业生涯的发展,教育对代际收入流动的影响逐渐增强。此外,家庭的经济地位和社会关系等家庭背景因素对代际收入流动也有显著的影响。     

Health Endowment at Birth and Variation in Intergenerational Economic Mobility: Evidence From U.S. County Birth Cohorts

New estimates of intergenerational economic mobility reveal substantial variation in the spatial distribution of opportunity in the United States. Efforts to explain this variation in economic mobility have conspicuously omitted health despite it being a key pathway for the transmission of economic position across generations. We begin to fill this gap in the literature by examining the relationship between health endowment at birth and intergenerational economic mobility across county birth cohorts in the United States, drawing on estimates from two population-level data sets. Exploiting variation across counties and over time, we find a negative relationship between the incidence of low-weight births and the level of economic mobility as measured in adulthood for the county birth cohorts in our sample. Our results build on a large and growing literature detailing the role of early childhood health in the transmission of economic status across generations and suggest that the incidence of low-weight births is negatively associated with intergenerational economic mobility.     

Validity of Domain Satisfaction Across Cohorts in the US

Domain satisfaction, a relatively under-researched topic in subjective well-being research, is designed to capture satisfaction in multiple aspects of life (e.g., family, health). In view of the life course perspective, perceptions toward such different domains of life are most likely influenced by the historical and social climate that individuals uniquely experience over their life span. However, little is known about whether domain satisfaction is a valid measure across cohorts, which reflect differing life experiences at each life stage. This study examines the psychometric properties (e.g., validity and reliability) of a domain satisfaction measure across seven theoretically meaningful cohorts (e.g., Baby Boomers) using a nationally representative sample of American adults from multiple waves of the General Social Survey (n = 15,302). Results from confirmatory factor analysis showed that the validity of the domain satisfaction measure was not consistent across cohorts; unlike when all samples (e.g., cohorts were not considered) were analyzed together. A series of follow-up analyses also revealed that temporally proximate cohorts that were born around the same time were more likely to be psychometrically comparable, while temporally distant cohorts were not. In summary, this study provides empirical evidence suggesting that the validity of domain satisfaction is sensitive to cohort effects, and researchers need careful consideration when comparing cohorts chronologically further apart.     

Income and Well-being Across European Provinces

The majority of studies investigate the effect of income on life satisfaction at either individual or country level. This study contributes with analysis at the (sub-national) province level across West European countries. I use a unique dataset Eurobarometer 44.2 Bis that is representative of province populations in a multilevel model. Provinces are defined according to The Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics at second level (NUTS II). Living conditions measured by regional income increase life satisfaction beyond personal income and national income. There is larger life satisfaction inequality between the rich and the poor in poor provinces than in rich provinces. Personal income matters more for life satisfaction in poor provinces than in rich provinces.     

Social Integration and Health Insurance Status Among African American Men and Women

Using 2010 national data, we investigate the relationship between social integration and health insurance for African American adults. During the previous year 21.6% of men and 19.8% of women lacked continuous health insurance. The effect of marital status, income, and employment on insurance coverage differed by age and gender. Additionally, frequency of church attendance was positively associated with continuous health insurance for women aged 51–64. Spiritual/religious identity was marginally associated with insurance status for men aged 36–50. As provisions of the Affordable Care Act take effect, implementation programs should expand enrollment efforts to include the conjugal unit and the church.     

Intergenerational Mobility in Relative Educational Attainment and Health-Related Behaviours

Social Indicators Research - Research on intergenerational social mobility and health-related behaviours yields mixed findings. Depending on the direction of mobility and the type of mechanisms...     

中国农村收入、收入差距和健康

本文利用2004年和2006年中国9个省份的家庭调查面板数据,研究收入、相对收入和农村居民健康之间的关系。发现健康状况随着个人收入的增加而改善,呈现出明显的非线性关系;收入差距对健康的滞后影响,呈现倒U型关系。此外,当基尼系数在0.387以下时,农村居民健康水平将会随着基尼系数的扩大而改善,当收入差距进一步扩大时,健康水平将受到损害。而数据显示68%的农村居民在倒U右侧,健康正受到扩大的收入差距侵蚀。     

中国家庭代际关系与老年男子生活幸福度

本文研究了我国家庭代际关系对老年男子（55岁及以上）生活幸福度的影响。根据代际连带理论,代际关系取决于不同的方面：居住安排,代际支持交换,代际情感以及代际准则。利用2006年中国综合社会调查数据,发现代际关系对老年男子生活幸福度有显著的影响。西方国家的相关研究曾指出老年父母在代际关系中充当给予者时,其生活幸福度会提高;然而本文的研究发现我国的情况恰好相反,父母得到子女支持越多时其幸福感越高。同时,代际情感也会显著地提高老年父母的主观幸福感。     

Veteran Status and Body Weight: A Longitudinal Fixed-Effects Approach

About 10–12 % of young men (and increasingly, women) have served a term in the military. Yet, we know relatively little about the consequences of military service for the lives of those who serve. In this article, we provide estimates of the relationship between men’s peacetime military service during the all-volunteer era (AVE) and body weight using longitudinal data on 6,304 men taken from the National Longitudinal Survey of 1979 (NLSY-79). Using fixed-effects estimators on up to 13 years of data and numerous controls for time-varying life-course characteristics linked to body weight, we find that veterans of active-duty military service have higher levels of BMI and obesity. We argue that eating habits learned during service, coupled with patterns of physical activity, lead to a situation whereby veterans making the transition to less active civilian lifestyles gain weight that is not lost over time.     

社会经济地位、社会流动与民族间的阶层认同差异

作为民族分层的关键指标,主观阶层认同对于研究族际冲突意识和冲突行为具有重要意义。本研究利用全国性调查数据,对民族间的阶层认同差异及其影响因素进行分析。研究发现,虽然当前少数民族社会经济地位要略低于汉族,但其阶层认同与汉族相比并不存在显著差异。究其原因,这可能与少数民族实现向上社会流动的比例高于汉族有关,即虽然相对较低的社会经济地位对于少数民族的阶层认同有拉低作用,但这种效用却被少数民族相对较高的向上社会流动机会所消融。本研究的启示在于,在民族关系问题日益重要的今天,我们在注重发展民族地区经济的同时,还要努力提高各民族成员向上社会流动的机会,促进各民族之间的社会交往和文化交融。     

Childhood Circumstances and the Intergenerational Transmission of Socioeconomic Status

A large literature has documented the intergenerational transmission of socioeconomic status (SES). However, the mechanisms by which SES transmits across generations are still little understood. This article investigates whether characteristics determined in childhood play an important role in the intergenerational transmission. Using data from the Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey, I document the extent to which childhood human capital accounts for the intergenerational SES correlation. My results imply that childhood health and nutrition, cognitive and noncognitive abilities, and early schooling account for between one-third and one-half of the relationship between parents' SES and their offspring's SES.     

Convergence in Income Inequality Across Australian States and Territories

Social Indicators Research - An increasing volume of literature has shown that economic freedom is related to life satisfaction. However, life satisfaction may not fully describe well-being because...     

收入、相对地位与女性的生育意愿

文章基于中国健康与营养调查（CHNS）2006年成人调查数据,对中国52岁以下在婚、离婚和丧偶女性的收入、相对地位对生育意愿的影响进行实证分析。与以往研究不同的是,在分析影响女性生育意愿的因素时,除了通常的收入、价格、职业和年龄等因素外,本文还特别引入了反映女性相对地位的变量。根据家庭谈判模型以及中国的现实情况,本文用相对收入、相对教育以及相对家务劳动时间来反映女性在家庭中的相对地位。结果显示,对于是否生育孩子的决策,生理因素的影响占据主导地位;对于生育多少个孩子的决策,社会经济因素占据主导地位,尤其是女性在家庭中的相对地位无论城乡均产生显著的影响,而女性的收入对生育意愿并没有产生显著影响。     

Antipoverty Effects of Various Social Transfers and Income Taxes Across Countries

Social Indicators Research - Most welfare states design their tax/benefit-system to combat income poverty. This paper analyzes the effectiveness of social transfers and income taxes in alleviating...     

Child Mobility,Maternal Status,and Household Composition in Rural South Africa

This article examines the influence of maternal status, socioeconomic status of the household, and household composition on the mobility of children aged 0–14 in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa, from 1999 to 2008. Using data from the Agincourt Health and Demographic Surveillance System, we found that children whose mothers were temporary migrants, living elsewhere, or dead had higher odds of moving than children whose mothers were coresident. Older children and children living in richer households faced lower odds of mobility. For children whose mothers were coresident, there was no effect of maternal substitutes on child mobility. However, among children whose mothers were temporary migrants or living elsewhere, the presence of prime-aged and elderly females lowered the odds of mobility. For maternal orphans, the presence of elderly women in the household lowered their odds of mobility. The results underscore the importance of examining the conditions under which children move in order to strengthen service delivery targeted at safeguarding children’s well-being.     

Examining the Relationship Between Intergenerational Upward Mobility and Inequality: Evidence from Panel Data

Social Indicators Research - Composite well-being and sustainability indices are usually obtained as arithmetic and geometric means of sub-dimensions. However, the arithmetic mean does not consider...     

Places of Persistence: Slavery and the Geography of Intergenerational Mobility in the United States

Intergenerational mobility has remained stable over recent decades in the United States but varies sharply across the country. In this article, I document that areas with more prevalent slavery by the outbreak of the Civil War exhibit substantially less upward mobility today. I find a negative link between prior slavery and contemporary mobility within states, when controlling for a wide range of historical and contemporary factors including income and inequality, focusing on the historical slave states, using a variety of mobility measures, and when exploiting geographical differences in the suitability for cultivating cotton as an instrument for the prevalence of slavery. As a first step to disentangle the underlying channels of persistence, I examine whether any of the five broad factors highlighted by Chetty et al. (2014a) as the most important correlates of upward mobility—family structure, income inequality, school quality, segregation, and social capital—can account for the link between earlier slavery and current mobility. More fragile family structures in areas where slavery was more prevalent, as reflected in lower marriage rates and a larger share of children living in single-parent households, is seemingly the most relevant to understand why it still shapes the geography of opportunity in the United States.     

Competing Demands from Aging Parents and Adult Children in Two Cohorts of American Women

In late middle age, individuals may face competing demands on their time and financial resources from elderly parents and young adult children. This study uses the Panel Study of Income Dynamics to examine changes over time in the probability of having children and living parents for women aged 45 to 64. We compare two cohorts: those born in the 1920s and 1930s and those born in the 1940s and 1950s. We find that there has been a dramatic increase in the probability of having children and living parents and that this increase has been driven mainly by changes in life expectancy of the parent generation. We further examine transfers of money and co‐residence for women in the later cohort. We find that while women may not give to parents and children concurrently, approximately 30 percent of them have provided support to both parents and children at some point in the past.