Inequality and Intergenerational Mobility

In this lecture, Tim Smeeding considers what we know about the methods by which the intergeneration transmission of advantage and disadvantage work their way through the lifecycle. He shows how inequality affects mobility and offers a perspective on when and how public policy can intervene to alter the time path of child development from birth through adulthood. The steps in the life course are illustrated with cross-national examples of parent–child gradients in multiple child outcome domains. The intergenerational mobility trends are discussed in the light of an increasing unequal society and taking into account different vulnerable groups according to age, race, children’s family structure and adult educational status.