The impact of mothers: intergenerational mobility in Sweden 1865–2015

Abstract Recent studies show how patterns and trends in social mobility look substantially different when both parents are considered rather than one. Using Swedish census and register data covering cohorts born 1865–1985 and their parents, I describe social mobility among both male-breadwinner and dual-earner family types, each reflecting a work-life context common globally today. This rich longitudinal data capture the occupational status of homemaker mothers later in life. Mobility levels in dual-earner families historically mirror mobility levels in dual-earner society today. Occupational persistence increased substantially as society transitioned from male breadwinner to dual earner; rank-rank correlations increased from 0.20 to 0.38—more so among daughters than among sons; long-term trends are however highly sensitive to specification choices - with the highest persistence specification suggesting historical levels as high as 0.47. Gender continues to play an important role throughout the period, with same-gender parent–child associations being substantially stronger than opposite-gender associations. Fathers’ highest occupational attainment captures most intergenerational persistence historically, while mothers and fathers contribute similarly to intergenerational persistence in dual-earner families. Parental resources are not independent, but accumulate—and differently so over time. These findings together suggest that both parents need to be included to correctly describe long-term mobility patterns and trends, either parsimoniously with the ‘pooled’ approach, or through two-parent models.