IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ucp/jlabec/doi10.1086-711038.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Do Grandparents Matter? Multigenerational Mobility in the United States, 1940–2015

Author

Listed:
  • Joseph Ferrie
  • Catherine Massey
  • Jonathan Rothbaum

Abstract

We assess the biases induced by measurement error in a study of correlations in educational attainment across two and three generations in the United States using linked data spanning 1940–2015. Although multigenerational regressions show an economically meaningful “grandparent effect,” we find that this effect is overstated and likely not statistically or economically significant after we correct for measurement error. However, that same measurement error means that inferences derived using only two generations of data understate persistence in educational attainment by roughly 20%. We find an 18% decline in the intergenerational correlation of educational attainment over the twentieth century.

Suggested Citation

  • Joseph Ferrie & Catherine Massey & Jonathan Rothbaum, 2021. "Do Grandparents Matter? Multigenerational Mobility in the United States, 1940–2015," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 39(3), pages 597-637.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jlabec:doi:10.1086/711038
    DOI: 10.1086/711038
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/711038
    Download Restriction: Access to the online full text or PDF requires a subscription.
    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/711038
    Download Restriction: Access to the online full text or PDF requires a subscription.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1086/711038?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Monica Harber Carney, 2024. "Trade-offs in intergenerational family care provision," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 563-593, June.
    2. Marie Connolly & Catherine Haeck, 2024. "Intergenerational income mobility trends in Canada," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 57(1), pages 5-26, February.
    3. Pablo Celhay & Sebastian Gallegos, 2023. "Educational Mobility Across Three Generations in Latin American Countries," Working Papers 2023-013, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    4. Baldi, Mauro Maria & Coppier, Raffaella & Michetti, Elisabetta, 2024. "The role of grandparents in grandchildren’s education for human capital accumulation in an overlapping generations model," Mathematical Social Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 67-79.
    5. Wang, Sophie Xuefei & Bansak, Cynthia, 2024. "Are grandparents a good substitute for parents as the primary caregiver? The impact of grandparents on Children's academic performance," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    6. Jim Been & Anne C. Gielen & Marike Knoef & Gloria Moroni, 2022. "Prolonged worklife among grandfathers: Spillover effects on grandchildren's educational outcomes," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 22-033/V, Tinbergen Institute.
    7. Celhay, Pablo & Gallegos, Sebastian, 2024. "Schooling Mobility across Three Generations in Six Latin American Countries," IZA Discussion Papers 17072, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Hwang, Sam Il Myoung & Squires, Munir, 2024. "Linked samples and measurement error in historical US census data," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ucp:jlabec:doi:10.1086/711038. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Journals Division (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/JOLE .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.