Where DESO Disappears: Spatial Inequality and Social Stratification at Labour Market Entry

Abstract

At country-level, a host of evidence suggests there is a sizeable direct effect of social origin (DESO) on initial labour market outcomes, net of educational attainment. What is true at country-level is not always true below country-level, however. Using data from the UK Household Longitudinal Survey and the German Socio-Economic Panel, we show that variable spatial opportunity structures moderate the size of DESO at labour market entry, such that there are places where DESO disappears. Social origins assume greater importance as local labour market conditions deteriorate: in weak local labour markets, non-graduates are approximately 16 percentage points less likely to find employment if their parents are care workers rather than secondary school teachers, while graduates typically obtain first jobs that are 7–9 ISEI points lower in status. These findings highlight the distinctive geography of social stratification processes at labour market entry and potentially beyond.

The Geography of Intergenerational Mobility in Europe

“…The link between social origin and occupational destinations may be strengthened when labor market prospects deteriorate, as young people become more reliant on parents' social capital to find work (Morris, 2022;Zwysen, 2016). In Denmark, income mobility was found to be lower in regions with a larger share unemployed (Eriksen and Munk, 2020).…”

Firms and the Intergenerational Transmission of Labor Market Advantage

“…But it can also occur in a context of high between-region inequality (Manduca, 2019), such that starting in a low-income region cuts off access to high-paying firms (Beggs and Villemez, 2001). Indeed, recent intergenerational mobility research has emphasized how the inheritance of local labor markets can explain part of transmission not mediated by education (Carniero et al, 2020;Morris, 2022;Rothstein, 2019;Zwysen, 2016)…”