Intergenerational Inequality: A Sociological Perspective
Author(s)
Erikson, Robert; Goldthorpe, John H.
Abstract
Sociologists usually study the inheritance of inequality through measures of the association between the social class positions of parents and children. In all modern societies a significant association between these positions is found. The pattern and degree of this association show a broad cross-national similarity and a high degree of temporal stability. The association is not eliminated when individuals’ educational attainment or IQ are taken into account. Sociologists thus share with economists the task of going beyond measures of cognitive abilities, skills, etc., in explaining the causal processes that lie behind the intergenerational transmission of inequality.
