Rising Tides Lift Which Boats? Understanding Economic and Family Inequalities Across Generations

In assessing the extent to which individuals escape childhood disadvantages (or maintain childhood advantages), researchers often study relative mobility across generations (individuals’ movements up or down the income rankings from their parents’ positions). Yet many people experience absolute income gains across generations without upward relative mobility; they simply float with the rising tide. I will explore the connections between absolute and relative mobility, combining formal analyses with empirical illustrations to address several questions: Are there trade-offs or complementarities between absolute and relative mobility? How do people jointly experience the two? Who floats with the rising tide, and what family dynamics predict these experiences? Results suggest that policies that promote absolute mobility have the potential to enhance living standards across generations without increasing equality of opportunity.

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