Class origin closure: economic advantages of occupational elitism

Abstract This study investigates the role of class origin compositions of micro-occupations in creating economic inequalities using three decades of British longitudinal surveys. Drawing on social closure theory, we analyze how class origin contributes to between-occupation earnings disparities and class origin earnings inequality at the individual level. Using fine-grained data on the class origins of occupational incumbents, we construct a robust indicator of the concentration of privileged class origins within labor market niches, “occupational elitism,” measured as the percentage of incumbents with parents in the higher salariat (ESeC class 1) within an occupation. Our results reveal that occupational elitism of micro-occupations is positively associated with earnings, after accounting for indicators of positional closure mechanisms, such as educational credentialing, licensure, and unionization. However, these collective earnings premiums are unevenly distributed, with earnings advantages for individuals from upper-class families emerging in occupations with higher levels of occupational elitism.