Ruud Luijkx

Educational fields of study and the intergenerational mobility process in comparative perspective

This article examines the importance of educational field of study, in addition to educational level, for explaining intergenerational class mobility in four countries: France, Germany, the UK and the Netherlands. Starting from standard models that only include educational level, we increase the complexity of the educational measure by differentiating between fields of study within levels. Contrary to our expectations, including field of study does not substantially reduce the partial effect of class origin on class destination. This seems to be due to the limited association between class origin and field choice, and between field choice and class destination. Implications for stratification and mobility studies are discussed.

Educational field of study and social mobility: disaggregating social origin and education

We examine the relationship between social origin and education by looking at it in more detail than is usually done. Rather than seeing origin and education as hierarchical characteristics, we argue that both should be disentangled in more detailed combinations of hierarchical levels and horizontal fields. Using Dutch survey data for men, we show that children often choose fields of study in which affinity is found with the class fraction of their father. This way, social selection into fields of study is guided by the domain of the father’s occupation. Importantly, affinity in domains across generations hampers intergenerational social mobility.

Childbirth and Cohort Effects on Mothers' Labour Supply: A Comparative Study Using Life History Data for Germany, the Netherlands and Great Britain

The negative effect of childbirth on mothers’ labour supply is well documented, though most studies examine only the short-term effects. This study uses retrospective life history data for Germany, the Netherlands and Great Britain to investigate the long-term effects of childbirth on mothers’ labour supply for successive birth cohorts. Probit estimates with correction for selection into motherhood and the number of births show strong drops in participation before first childbirths and strong recovery after the birth of the last child, especially in Great Britain. Younger cohorts display a less sharp decline in participation around childbirth and a faster increase in participation in the 20 years after childbirth, especially in the Netherlands. However, mothers’ participation rates do not return to pre-birth levels in any of the countries studied here. Labour market conditions and institutional public support seem to contribute to explaining the cross-country variation in participation after childbirth.

Educational attainment, occupational achievements, career peaks: The Netherlands in the second part of the twentieth century

ABSTRACT This paper answers questions on the educational attainment and occupational career of men in The Netherlands whose working life began in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, in so far as their job history is available until at least the age of 45 years. The analysis draws on five Dutch retrospective life-history surveys conducted between 1992 and 2003. The results show that a mans education depends upon his fathers job, and that this effect has not changed for labour market entry cohorts. When explaining a mans first job, his fathers job is influential once more, independent of a mans education. A mans education has a direct positive effect on his first job, his job after 10 and 20 years, and his peak job, but again the differences in status attainment between labour market entry cohorts are limited. Findings also reveal that advantages accumulate during a persons working life. Apart from a higher level of education, a higher first job has an independent positive effect on a mans job after 10 and 20 years, as well as on his peak status.

Religiosity, gender attitudes and women’s labour market participation and fertility decisions in Europe

The Second Demographic Transition (SDT) theory underlines the importance of changing values and attitudes to explain the trend toward low fertility and raising female labour market participation. We contribute to this debate comparing religiosity and gender attitudes over several European countries using three waves of the European Values Study (1990, 1999 and 2008). By dealing with the issues of measurement invariance and endogeneity between values and behaviour, our results support some critiques of the SDT theory. The pace of the process of sociocultural change has not been the same across European countries and the forerunners of the SDT, that is, the most secularized and gender-egalitarian societies, now have the highest female labour market participation rates and the highest fertility. We provide evidence for a ‘macro–micro paradox’ regarding the role of values on family behaviours. Religiosity is positively correlated with fertility and housewifery, while gender attitudes are only correlated with women’s labour market decisions. These correlations are stronger in more traditional countries, even if aggregate fertility is lower. We stress the necessity to integrate cultural and structural explanations, suggesting the lack of family policies and the rigidity of the family formation process as possible mechanisms to unravel this paradox.

Changes in status attainment in Hungary between 1910 and 1989: Trendless fluctuation or systematic change?

This article addresses the effects of economic and political change on social mobility in Hungary between 1910 and 1989 by investigating whether the effects of family background on schooling and the effects of family background and schooling on first occupation vary between periods in Hungarys twentieth-century history. For this purpose, we distinguish five periods: the long-lasting Depression (1910 to 1933), the period around the Second World War (1934 to 1948), the long 1950s (1949 to 1967), the period of reform socialism (1968 to 1982), and the decline of socialism (1983 to 1989). Using large-scale datasets from 1973, 1983, 1992 and 1993, we are able to investigate developments in the parameters of the status attainment model for about 75,000 men and women. We use spline regressions to find out whether trends in the effects vary between periods. Linear secular trends in the effects of family background and schooling do not predominate; spline models reveal discontinuities between periods. On the other hand, a trend from ascription to achievement both for men and women can be observed. In contrast to the general assumption, the most important deviation from the general trend has taken place in the years before the communist take-over.

The relationship between educational homogamy and educational mobility in 29 European countries

This article deals with the relationship between educational homogamy and educational mobility in 29 European countries. It answers three interrelated questions: (1) Is there any relationship between educational mobility and educational homogamy? (2) Does educational homogamy diverge from educational mobility (negative relationship) or does educational heterogamy strengthen educational mobility (positive relationship)? (3) If there is any positive relationship, do educational mobility and educational heterogamy indicate the level of educational inequality to the same degree? To answer these questions the authors use data from three waves of the European Social Survey (2002, 2004 and 2006). The answers are given in absolute (percentages) as well as in relative measures (log-multiplicative effects). The results show that there is a positive relationship between educational mobility and educational heterogamy. For all countries analysed, relative educational heterogamy is a stronger indicator of educational inequalities than relative educational mobility. The systematic deviation of educational heterogamy from educational mobility is explained by a number of factors that the authors discuss in the last part of the article.

The tenure gap in electoral participation: Instrumental motivation or selection bias? Comparing homeowners and tenants across four housing regimes

Integrating housing tenure in Instrumental Motivation Theory predicts a tenure gap in electoral participation, as homeowners would be more motivated to vote compared with tenants. The empirical question is whether this effect is causal or rather due to selection into different housing tenures. This question is tackled using coarsened exact matching (CEM) on data for 19 countries, allowing us to better control for endogeneity. Even then, homeowners are found to vote more often than tenants. This association is stronger in countries characterized by a strong pro-homeownership ideology and/or where the financialization of housing markets turned houses into assets.