Intergenerational Correlations in Labor Market Status: A Comparison of the United States and Germany

We use data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and the German Socio-economic Panel to calculate comparable measures of intergenerational correlations of earnings, hours, and education in the United States and in Germany. Our results indicate that there is remarkable similarity across the two countries in the correlations of earnings and of annual work hours of fathers and sons. The corresponding correlations for daughters and mothers are stronger in the United States than Germany, most likely due to the greater labor market integration of women in the United States. We also find that intergenerational correlations in educational attainment are considerably stronger in the United States.