On the cost of being crude: comparison of detailed and coarse occupational coding in the ISSP 1987 data

Der Verfasser setzt sich mit der Frage auseinander, ob die detaillierte Codierung von Berufen im Gegensatz zu einer groberen Klassifizierung die damit verbundenen Mühen und Kosten wert ist. Als Datenmaterial dient ihm das International Social Survey Programme 1987, das sowohl detaillierte als auch grobere Berufsdaten - unabhängig voneinander erhoben - enthält. Es zeigt sich, dass zwischen der Reliabilität der detaillierten und der groben Daten kaum ein Unterschied besteht. Die groben Daten zeigen eine - allerdings nur sehr kleine - Tendenz zur Immobilität im Generationenvergleich. Die gleichzeitige Messung detaillierter und grober Codierungen kann zu einem Forschungsdesign mit mehreren Indikatoren führen. (ICE

Patterns of intergenerational mobility of the old and new middle classes

It has often been proposed that new cleavages have emerged within the middle class. In this paper, we examine the distinction between social and cultural specialists and technocrats, and investigate whether these new and old middle class fractions are differentiated by their patterns of intergenerational mobility. To what extent do these newly distinguished middle class fractions have specific external and internal intergenerational mobility patterns? And to what extent have mobility boundaries between them been rising over time? To answer these questions, we use 47 Dutch national population sample surveys with detailed occupation codes collected between 1970 and 2006 (N = 60,978). Our analyses of internal and external homogeneity show that the middle class fractions each have characteristic mobility and immobility patterns and therefore a necessary condition is satisfied to declare them as separate classes. Furthermore, in the early periods, the social and cultural specialists were differentiated by a high level of immobility but in the later periods, the distance between the old and new middle classes has decreased significantly

Parental socioeconomic status and the timing of first marriage: What is the role of unmarried cohabitation? Results from a cross-national comparison

Background: Previous research has shown that individuals from high-status families enter marriage later than those from low-status families. However, in many Western societies, it has become common to cohabit prior to marriage. Does this change the link between parental socioeconomic status (SES) and marriage timing? Objective: This study examines to what extent the impact of parental SES on the timing of first marriage weakens after young adults start a cohabiting union. It also examines cross-national variation in the link between parental SES and marriage timing before and after young adults cohabit and whether this variation depends on countries' position in the cohabitation transition. Methods: We apply discrete-time hazard models and meta-analytical tools using data from 20 Western countries. To examine whether the cohabitation stage of countries explains country differences, we construct a four-stage cohabitation typology. Results: In most countries, higher parental SES results in later entry into marriage. The impact of parental SES on marriage timing weakens considerably after young adults entered a cohabiting union. Substantial cross-national variation is found in the strength of the link between parental SES and marriage timing. However, this variation cannot be explained by the cohabitation stage countries are in. Contribution: First, this study provides fresh evidence of the influence of parental SES on family formation in Western countries. Second, it shows the importance of a life-course perspective, as parental SES matters less after young adults start a cohabiting union. Third, it presents a theory-based and empirically-tested typology of stages in the cohabitation transition

Changes in status attainment in Hungary between 1910 and 1989:Trendless fluctuation or systematic change?

This article addresses the effects of economic and political change on social mobility in Hungary between 1910 and 1989 by investigating whether the effects of family background on schooling and the effects of family background and schooling on first occupation vary between periods in Hungary’s twentieth-century history. For this purpose, we distinguish five periods: the long-lasting Depression (1910 to 1933), the period around the Second World War (1934 to 1948), the long 1950s (1949 to 1967), the period of reform socialism (1968 to 1982), and the decline of socialism (1983 to 1989). Using large-scale datasets from 1973, 1983, 1992 and 1993, we are able to investigate developments in the parameters of the status attainment model for about 75,000 men and women. We use spline regressions to find out whether trends in the effects vary between periods. Linear secular trends in the effects of family background and schooling do not predominate; spline models reveal discontinuities between periods. On the other hand, a trend from ascription to achievement both for men and women can be observed. In contrast to the general assumption, the most important deviation from the general trend has taken place in the years before the communist take-over