The Occupational Stratification Process for the Rural Poor in Mexico

The influence of socioeconomic origins on occupational outcomes is an expression of inequality of opportunity in society. The reproduction of intergenerational inequalities has been widely studied within the field of social mobility and stratification. Education and labor market insertion have been identified as key elements in the stratification process. Mexico is a highly stratified and rigid society in which children born in poor households have a high probability of experimenting intergenerational transmission of poverty. Using path analysis models, this paper provides empirical evidence on some of the factors that shape occupational allocation of the rural youth that belong to poor households in Mexico. This contributes to the understanding of the process of intergenerational reproduction of inequality and poverty.