IDEA FOUND // IDEA 189
Intergenerational Mobility
“One generation's economic position may remain present in the next generation's opportunities.”
01 / PLAINLY
What it means, plainly
Intergenerational mobility compares one generation's outcomes with those of its families of origin.
02 / CONTEXT
A little more
Intergenerational mobility compares children's outcomes with those of their families. Absolute and relative mobility answer different questions, and estimates depend on data, age, measure, and country.
03 / WHY IT MATTERS
Why it matters
Separating absolute improvement from relative movement prevents calling a society mobile merely because nearly everyone earns more.
04 / EXAMPLE
A familiar example
A whole generation may earn more than its parents while preserving almost the same relative income ranking.
05 / LIMIT
What it does not mean
A national rate predicts no individual's fate and cannot by itself separate merit, policy, family, and luck.
06 / NOTICE
Notice it in your day
Imagine a generation that earns more while keeping the same ranking. Describe separately what absolute and relative mobility would report.
FINAL NOTE
The idea worth keeping
State whether you measure absolute improvement or rank change and which generations are compared.
QUESTIONS / 02
Questions people still have
What question does absolute mobility answer?
Whether the new generation reached a higher outcome than the previous one.
Does a national mobility rate predict one person's fate?
No. It summarizes patterns and depends on data, age, measure, and country.