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Is Mobility in the United States Still Alive? Tracking career opportunities and income growth

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  • Stephen Rose

Abstract

Longitudinal data are used to compute income and earnings mobility in the 1970s and 1980s. The various strengths and weakness of different perspectives on mobility are assessed, with the change in real income or earnings being chosen as the one that most closely resembles the common-sense meaning of progress or decline. Care is taken to choose the proper age ranges and to define quantiles on the basis of 10-year income or earnings. Based on the Panel Study on Income Dynamics, this paper finds the share of family income losers among prime-age adults rose from 21% in the 1970s to 33% in the 1980s. This jump is reflected in a corresponding jump in the share of male earners with declining earnings over the same time period. Female earners, however, worked 44% more in the 1980s than the 1970s and fewer were on declining earnings paths. In terms of sub-populations, lower income and less educated groups had larger increases of income and earnings losses.

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  • Stephen Rose, 1999. "Is Mobility in the United States Still Alive? Tracking career opportunities and income growth," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(3), pages 417-436.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:irapec:v:13:y:1999:i:3:p:417-436
    DOI: 10.1080/026921799101616
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    1. Kevin M. Murphy & Finis Welch, 1992. "The Structure of Wages," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 107(1), pages 285-326.
    2. Levy, Frank & Murnane, Richard J, 1992. "U.S. Earnings Levels and Earnings Inequality: A Review of Recent Trends and Proposed Explanations," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 30(3), pages 1333-1381, September.
    3. Richard Alm & W. Michael Cox, 1995. "By our own bootstraps: economic opportunity and the dynamics of income distribution," Annual Report, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, pages 2-24.
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    Cited by:

    1. Annamaria Simonazzi & Paola Villa, 1999. "Flexibility and Growth," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(3), pages 281-311.

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