A Detailed Picture of Intergenerational Transmission of Human Capital
As the previous Economic Mobility Project report Pathways to Economic Mobility found, education---including parental education ---is a key indicator of one's ability to move up or down the economic ladder.
This report, authored by scholars at the Urban Institute, examines the extent to which parents' educational attainment affects their children's outcomes across four measures: their educational attainment, health, wealth, and lifetime earnings. Across each of these measures of human capital, the report finds that most Americans experience substantial mobility, even if their parent's educational attainment ranked near the bottom. Still, reflective of past EMP reports, children's outcomes at the very top and bottom of the distribution are largely reflective of their parent's educational rank.
To view the full report, please click on the report image.
(MAY 2009)
- Figure 1: Hypothetical IGE=0.35 Scenarios with Different Mobility Implications
- Figure 2. Distribution of Children’s Educational Outcomes for Lower and Higher Levels of Parental Education
- Figure 3. Translating Many Distributions of Outcomes into a Simpler Graph
- Figure 4: Hypothetical Scenarios with Perfect Mobility and No Mobility
- Figure 5: Hypothetical Scenarios with “Good” and “Bad” Mobility
- Figure 6: Distribution of Educational Percentile Rank by Parental Education Percentile
- Figure 7: Distribution of Lifetime Earnings Percentile Rank by Parental Education Percentile
- Figure 8: Distribution of Wealth Percentile Rank by Parental Education Percentile
- Figure 9: Distribution of Health Percentile Rank by Parental Education Percentile
- Table 1: Estimates of Intergenerational Persistence in Education
- Table 2: Characteristics of the Health and Retirement Study Sample: Individuals ages 51–62 in 1992–2006 in Various Analyses
- Table 3: Intergenerational Persistence of Completed Years of Education in the Health and Retirement Study Sample: Individuals Ages 51–62 in 1992–2006
- Table 4: Education Transition Matrix for Two Older Generations
- Table 5: Education Transition Matrix for Two Younger Generations
- Table 6: Education Transition Matrix for Oldest and Youngest Generations
- Appendix Figure 1: Distribution of Respondents’ Education by Birth Cohort
- Appendix Figure 2: Distribution of AIME ($1992) at Age 60/61
- Appendix Figure 3: Distribution of Health Outcomes: Relationship between Self-reported Health Status and Health Index
- Appendix Figure 4: Distribution of the Natural Logarithm of Net Worth with Net Worth of One or Less Shown at Zero
- Appendix Figure 5: Distribution of Educational Percentile Rank by Parental Education Percentile, Excluding Immigrant Children
- Appendix Figure 6: Distribution of Lifetime Earnings Percentile Rank by Parental Education Percentile, Excluding Immigrant Children
- Appendix Figure 7: Distribution of Wealth Percentile Rank by Parental Education Percentile, Excluding Immigrant Children
- Appendix Figure 8: Distribution of Wealth Percentile Rank by Parental Education Percentile, Excluding Immigrant Children
