Intergenerational Occupational Mobility and Health in the United States

Does intergenerational occupational mobility impact health and well-being net of occupational origins and destinations? Are the net effects of mobility homogeneous across demographic subgroups? Using data from High School and Beyond cohort (HS&B:80) and two mobility effect models (Luo’s Mobility Contrast Model and Sobel’s Diagonal Reference Model), we find no evidence of mobility effects on physical (i.e., hypertension, diabetes), mental (i.e., depression, loneliness), self-rated global, or cognitive health in mid-life at the population level. However, we find heterogeneity in mobility effects across gender and racial subgroups. The effects of origin and destination statuses vary across health outcomes, and the (dis)advantages associated with origin status are sometimes fully offset by those of destination status for intergenerationally mobile individuals.