A study examines social mobility in the 20th century in the United States. Intergenerational social mobility (ISM)--the rate at which children earn higher incomes than their parents--varies by region in the United States. However, it is unclear whether contemporary regional patterns are a continuation of long-term trends. Dylan Connor and Michael Storper analyzed location and income data from the US census for more than 1 million US-born fathers and sons in 1920 and 1940, respectively. The authors used the data to measure regional social mobility in the early 20th century and compared the findings with contemporary, late-20th-century social mobility patterns. Contemporary patterns were derived from IRS income data for 10 million individuals born between 1980 and 1982 and whose data was collected between 2011 and 2012. Individuals growing up in urbanized and industrialized regions--such as the Northeast, Midwest, and West--experienced high levels of ISM in the early 20th century, although this advantage declined over time. Individuals from the southern United States experienced consistently low levels of ISM throughout the 20th century. Growing up in and eventual migration from the Northern Plains/Mountain region was associated with some of the highest levels of contemporary ISM in the country. The findings suggest that regions with large Black populations and high levels of income inequality have experienced consistently low levels of social mobility over the last century, according to the authors.
Article #20-10222: "The changing geography of social mobility in the United States," by Dylan Shane Connor and Michael Storper.
MEDIA CONTACT: Dylan Connor, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ; tel: 310-752-3771; e-mail: dsconnor@asu.edu, dylan.connor@asu.edu
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