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BiB Working Paper 1/2019 • 15.07.2019Does Mobility Affect Occupational Status Later in Life?
The working paper examines the link between spatial mobility after leaving school or training and occupational status shortly after entry into the labour market. Using a path model, an estimation procedure is applied to identify both the direct effect of spatial mobility on occupational status and the indirect effect through educational advancement.
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Spatial mobility of young adults for training purposes accounts for a large proportion of internal migration dynamics in Germany. Using data from the Adult Cohort of the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS), an estimation procedure is used to analyse whether spatial mobility behaviour during training has a positive effect on occupational status three years after having finished education.
Linkage between Spatial Mobility Behaviour and Occupational Status
The study is a representative, multi-cohort sample of the German population containing complete retrospectively and prospectively collected educational and occupational biographies. Information on occupational opportunities is available down to the district level. Spatial mobility behaviour is conceptualized as the distance between the district midpoints of two educational sites. On the basis of the district keys, information about local educational opportunities and the urbanisation level can also be assigned to individual data.
Spatial Mobility Improves Social Mobility Opportunities
The findings confirm that those who are spatially mobile during their education represent a highly selective group. They have a high educational orientation and tend to come from highly educated families. Despite this selectivity, the study shows that the realisation of educational opportunities in distant places can be beneficial to the social mobility of young people beyond educational advancement. The results also suggest that spatial mobility improves social mobility opportunities especially for persons with unfavourable starting positions.
Waibel, Stine (2019):
Does Spatial Mobility in Young Adulthood Matter? Indirect and Direct Effects of Spatial Mobility during Education on Occupational Status.
BiB Working Paper 1/2019. Wiesbaden: Bundesinstitut für Bevölkerungsforschung