Scholarlink

<p>Whether or not social mobility in the United States is greater today than in the past is a contested topic and the subject of a growing body of literature. Wealth and income inequality are more readily accepted in a mobile society than a stratified, class-based social system. The intergenerational correlation of occupation and wealth between parents and students who attended the Cambridge Washington Academy in New York in 1846 is estimated. The school was a private secondary boarding school, and the 177 students are primarily from well-off farm families. Using census records from 1850 to 1875, the occupational and wealth elasticity of male students is 0.34 and 0.28, respectively. After three generations, the correlation is 0.04, implying a high degree of social mobility. For married female students, the occupational and wealth elasticities of their husbands are 0.20 and 0.58, respectively. The high wealth elasticity suggests assortative mating and dowries since the wealth comes from the female student’s father. The fact that well-positioned children enjoy only modest inter-generational gains in status and wealth is consistent with the idea of America in the 19th Century as a land of opportunity.</p>

错误：搜索内容不能为空，请输入英文关键词
错误：关键词超出字数限制，请精简
高级检索

Education, Wealth and Social Mobility

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年7月10日

查看全文
  • Donald F. Vitaliano

摘要

Whether or not social mobility in the United States is greater today than in the past is a contested topic and the subject of a growing body of literature. Wealth and income inequality are more readily accepted in a mobile society than a stratified, class-based social system. The intergenerational correlation of occupation and wealth between parents and students who attended the Cambridge Washington Academy in New York in 1846 is estimated. The school was a private secondary boarding school, and the 177 students are primarily from well-off farm families. Using census records from 1850 to 1875, the occupational and wealth elasticity of male students is 0.34 and 0.28, respectively. After three generations, the correlation is 0.04, implying a high degree of social mobility. For married female students, the occupational and wealth elasticities of their husbands are 0.20 and 0.58, respectively. The high wealth elasticity suggests assortative mating and dowries since the wealth comes from the female student’s father. The fact that well-positioned children enjoy only modest inter-generational gains in status and wealth is consistent with the idea of America in the 19th Century as a land of opportunity.