Mechanisms to Increase Social Fluidity over Cohorts and across Age. the Case of Spain

This paper presents the results of an analysis of intergenerational social mobility in Spain taking into account the role of education in social fluidity over cohorts and across age. We follow the work of Breen (2010) and Vallet (2017) addressed to determine the contribution of the different mechanisms to the increase in social fluidity over cohorts, adding age effect. Drawing data from pooled cross-sectional data (INE, 1991; 2005; 2011), both men (50,804 cases) and women (38,688 cases) reaching occupational maturity between 1956 and 2011(born between 1926 to 1981) are analyzed, a period of profound economic, political and social transformations. We analyze change in the fundamental statistical associations: origin-destination, origin-education and education-destination, and the interaction OED, over cohorts and age, as an indicator of labor experience. As well as we apply a simulation or counterfactual analysis to test the relative role of education in shaping social fluidity. For the case of Spain, we conclude that social fluidity is explained by two fundamental mechanisms: first and mainly by the educational expansion, and to a lesser extent by a reduction of the direct effect. In turn, there is a slight effect of the age in social fluidity.

This analysis is part of a research developed in the context of INCASI Project (International Network for Comparative Analysis of Social Inequalities, Horizon 2020. Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions. Research and Innovation Staff Exchange, GA-691004, http://incasi.uab.es).