P.M. de Graaf

A standard international socio-economic index of occupational status

Abstract In this paper we present an International Socio-Economic Index of occupational status (ISEI), derived from the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO), using comparably coded data on education, occupation, and income for 73,901 full-time employed men from 16 countries. We use an optimal scaling procedure, assigning scores to each of 271 distinct occupation categories in such a way as to maximize the role of occupation as an intervening variable between education and income (in contrast to taking prestige as the criterion for weighting education and income, as in the Duncan scale). We compare the resulting scale to two existing internationally standardized measures of occupational status, Treimans international prestige scale (SIOPS) and Goldthorpes class categories (EGP), and also with several locally developed SEI scales. The performance of the new ISEI scale compares favorably with these alternatives, both for the data sets used to construct the scale and for five additional data sets.

The total impact of the family on educational attainment

The concept of social exclusion implies that there is a downward spiral in which labour market marginality leads to poverty and social isolation, which in turn reinforce the risk of long-term unemployment. The evidence in favour of this view hitherto has been largely restricted to cross-sectional data that assess the degree of association between labour market position, poverty status and patterns of sociability. In this article we seek to test more rigorously the implied causal argument by exploring the relationship between these factors over time. The article first explores whether the transition from employment to unemployment heightens the risk of poverty and social isolation, and then turns to the issue of whether poverty and social isolation significantly affect the length of time it takes people to leave unemployment for a job. It draws on data from the European Community Household Panel, which provides longitudinal data for most of the EU member states, for the period 1994 to 1996. The article concludes that there is strong evidence that poverty contributes to a vicious circle of exclusion. Unemployment increases the risks of poverty and poverty in turn makes it more difficult for people to return to work. However, there is no clear support for the view that social isolation is directly caused by unemployment. Rather the risk of social isolation is contingent upon broader cultural patterns with respect to household structure and local sociability, which differ considerably between countries. Furthermore, there was no significant effect of any of the types of sociability studied on the time that it took people to re-enter employment. The article concludes that a concern for the implications of unemployment for social exclusion should focus primarily on the problem of poverty.The concept of social exclusion implies that there is a downward spiral in which labour market marginality leads to poverty and social isolation, which in turn reinforce the risk of long-term unemployment. The evidence in favour of this view hitherto has been largely restricted to cross-sectional data that assess the degree of association between labour market position, poverty status and patterns of sociability. In this article we seek to test more rigorously the implied causal argument by exploring the relationship between these factors over time. The article first explores whether the transition from employment to unemployment heightens the risk of poverty and social isolation, and then turns to the issue of whether poverty and social isolation significantly affect the length of time it takes people to leave unemployment for a job. It draws on data from the European Community Household Panel, which provides longitudinal data for most of the EU member states, for the period 1994 to 1996. The article con...

Collectivist versus individualist mobility regimes? Structural change and job mobility in four countries

Job mobility is produced by structural forces of expansion and contraction as well as by individual choices. But labor market structure and welfare state policies will create distinctive national patterns of labor force adjustment to shifts in technology, markets, and the consequent demand for particular forms of labor. In a four‐nation comparative study, U.S. rates of job mobility showed the greatest sensitivity to structural change and to the labor market resources of individual workers. The Netherlands was at the opposite pole, with worker outcomes largely insulated from structural forces. Germanys strong labor market boundaries channeled adjustment within sectors or between employment and nonemployment, while Swedens pattern was intermediate between that of the United States and Germany.

Zittenblijven of afstromen? De relatie tussen sociaal milieu en keuzes in het voortgezet onderwijs voor drie cohorten leerlingen

Research on educational careers consistently has found a negative effect of social background on grade retention. In the present study, we make the argument that grade retention also can be seen as an attractive alternative for children in the higher tracks of secondary education when these turn out to be too demanding. Particularly highly educated parents might prefer grade retention above enrolling in a lower track. We test this hypothesis by estimating social background effects on the choice between grade retention and enrolling in a lower track. Our analysis is based on three cohorts of pupils who made the transition from primary to secondary education in 1989, 1993 and 1999 respectively. Indeed, when compared to a transition to a lower track, we find the expected positive effect of social background on grade retention. Surprisingly, the introduction of the unpopular pre-vocational secondary education (vmbo) in 1999 has not changed this effect.