Intergenerational economic mobility and assortative mating

Arbeitspapier

We use data from the German Socio-Economic Panel and the British Household Panel Survey to estimate the extent of intergenerational economic mobility in a framework that highlights the role played by assortative mating. We find that assortative mating plays an important role. On average about 40-50% of the covariance between parents' and own permanent family income can be attributed to the person to whom one is married. This effect is driven by strong spouse correlations in human capital, which are larger in Germany than Britain.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: IZA Discussion Papers ; No. 1847

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure; Domestic Abuse ; Education and Research Institutions: General ; Personal Income, Wealth, and Their Distributions ; Altruism; Philanthropy; Intergenerational Transfers
• Subject: intergenerational links ; marriage market ; assortative mating ; occupational prestige

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Ermisch, John ; Francesconi, Marco ; Siedler, Thomas
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)
• (where): Bonn
• (when): 2005

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/33269
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:44 AM CET