Multi-generational income disadvantage and the educational attainment of young adults

We use data from three generations of participants of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics to examine the association between intergenerational socio-economic mobility and young adult outcomes. In particular, we investigate whether parents’ childhood conditions are associated with the educational attainment of their young adult children, conditional on young adults’ own childhood conditions. We examine the degree to which different paths leading to the same socio-economic position may differentially influence the outcomes of children raised under otherwise similar circumstances. We find some evidence that, conditional on young adults’ own adolescent conditions, the adolescent conditions of their parents influence their household environment and by extension their educational attainment. This association appears to be concentrated among low-income households.