INTERGENERATIONAL MOBILITY AMONG THE RICH AND POOR : RESULTS FROM THE NATIONAL CHILD DEVELOPMENT SURVEY

Using data from the UK National Child Development Survey, we look at the relationship between sons and fathers and their position in the population income distribution. Particular attention is paid to those who start or end up near the top or bottom of the distribution. People at these extreme ends of the distribution are found to be particularly subject to immobility across the generations. Among those whose fathers are at the bottom of the distribution a clear positive relationship between test scores at age seven and likelihood of moving up the distribution appears evident. Copyright 1996 by Oxford University Press.