Intergenerational Educational Mobility in Brazil: Trends and Patterns

Abstract

Socioeconomic mobility across generations is an important measure of how developed and open to equal opportunities a nation is. Understanding the mechanisms behind intergenerational mobility is essential for the implementation of effective public policies toward economic development. This study aimed to measure intergenerational mobility specifically in education, using data from the National Household Sample Survey for the year 2014, where 9 birth cohorts were utilized to obtain regression coefficients, correlation coefficients, and the decomposition of the correlation coefficient. Among the main findings, an increase in intergenerational mobility over time was observed in both the regression coefficient and the correlation coefficient. Additionally, there was limited mobility among groups such as women and non-white individuals. Regarding regions, the Northeast region experienced significant growth in mobility, no longer being the region with the highest persistence over time. As for the type of persistence, it became composed of parents and children who have the same level of education, such as high school and higher education.