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The impact of mothers. Intergenerational mobility in Sweden 1865-2015

van Dongen, Elien LU orcid (2022) European Consortium for Sociological Research annual conference
Abstract
How does parental social status affects child status attainment across time? Social mobility studies have traditionally studied parent-child associations using one ‘dominant’ parent to reflect social origin. However, the institutions of family and work have changed substantially over the past 150 years, in Sweden as elsewhere. These changes are associated with changes in intergenerational
status mobility; one-parent to child social mobility increased in Sweden as the country modernized, but two-parent mobility did not. The father-child rank correlation first increased as Sweden industrialized and transitioned from the production unit to breadwinner-homemaker family type, and subsequently decreased. The impact of mothers’ occupational... (More)
How does parental social status affects child status attainment across time? Social mobility studies have traditionally studied parent-child associations using one ‘dominant’ parent to reflect social origin. However, the institutions of family and work have changed substantially over the past 150 years, in Sweden as elsewhere. These changes are associated with changes in intergenerational
status mobility; one-parent to child social mobility increased in Sweden as the country modernized, but two-parent mobility did not. The father-child rank correlation first increased as Sweden industrialized and transitioned from the production unit to breadwinner-homemaker family type, and subsequently decreased. The impact of mothers’ occupational status increases substantially as society transitions from breadwinner-homemaker to dual-earner family type, although mothers’ occupational status has always been important in dual-earner families. In the 1970s Sweden becomes a dual-earner society, and among cohorts born in this decade mothers’ occupational status is roughly of the same
importance as fathers’ occupational status for child status attainment. Gender continues to play an important role in intergenerational transmission throughout the period studied, with same-gender parent-child associations being stronger than cross-gender associations. Homemaker mothers are positively associated with child status attainment, and breadwinner fathers show stronger intergenerational associations – but both only in a breadwinner-homemaker society. Parental resources accumulate; we observe multiplicative accumulation of parental status in both historical and recent cohorts, while observing compensatory accumulation in specialized breadwinner-homemaker cohorts. (Less)
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author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to conference
publication status
unpublished
subject
keywords
Social Mobility, Intergenerational Mobility, Mothers, Two Parents, Long-term development, Occupational Status, Family Type
conference name
European Consortium for Sociological Research annual conference
conference location
Amsterdam, Netherlands
conference dates
2022-07-06 - 2022-07-08
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
0ede3d6a-3638-4481-9d9a-4a213ded9765
date added to LUP
2022-06-09 09:50:06
date last changed
2024-06-25 13:07:48
@misc{0ede3d6a-3638-4481-9d9a-4a213ded9765,
  abstract     = {{How does parental social status affects child status attainment across time? Social mobility studies have traditionally studied parent-child associations using one ‘dominant’ parent to reflect social origin. However, the institutions of family and work have changed substantially over the past 150 years, in Sweden as elsewhere. These changes are associated with changes in intergenerational<br/>status mobility; one-parent to child social mobility increased in Sweden as the country modernized, but two-parent mobility did not. The father-child rank correlation first increased as Sweden industrialized and transitioned from the production unit to breadwinner-homemaker family type, and subsequently decreased. The impact of mothers’ occupational status increases substantially as society transitions from breadwinner-homemaker to dual-earner family type, although mothers’ occupational status has always been important in dual-earner families. In the 1970s Sweden becomes a dual-earner society, and among cohorts born in this decade mothers’ occupational status is roughly of the same<br/>importance as fathers’ occupational status for child status attainment. Gender continues to play an important role in intergenerational transmission throughout the period studied, with same-gender parent-child associations being stronger than cross-gender associations. Homemaker mothers are positively associated with child status attainment, and breadwinner fathers show stronger intergenerational associations – but both only in a breadwinner-homemaker society. Parental resources accumulate; we observe multiplicative accumulation of parental status in both historical and recent cohorts, while observing compensatory accumulation in specialized breadwinner-homemaker cohorts.}},
  author       = {{van Dongen, Elien}},
  keywords     = {{Social Mobility; Intergenerational Mobility; Mothers; Two Parents; Long-term development; Occupational Status; Family Type}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{07}},
  title        = {{The impact of mothers. Intergenerational mobility in Sweden 1865-2015}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}