The decline in long-term earnings mobility in the U.S. Evidence from survey-linked administrative data

Michael D. Carr, Emily E. Wiemers

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

The growth in cross-sectional inequality has sparked concern about its consequences for long-run economic outcomes. We use survey-linked administrative data to estimate trends in long-term earnings mobility in the U.S. since 1980 focusing on differential trends by gender, education, and race-ethnicity. We find that long-term earnings mobility has declined since the 1980s. Declines in upward mobility have occurred for both men and women, reversing a trend prior to 1980 of increasing long-run mobility for women. The largest declines in mobility are for women and college-educated workers, which is driven both by increases in the rank of earnings early in prime earning years and growing persistence in ranks across the earnings distribution.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number102170
JournalLabour Economics
Volume78
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2022

Keywords

  • D03
  • Earnings mobility
  • Inequality
  • Intragenerational mobility
  • J31

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Economics and Econometrics
  • Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management

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