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Parental Wealth and the Black–White Mobility Gap in the U . S .
Author(s) -
Fox Liana E.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
review of income and wealth
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.024
H-Index - 57
eISSN - 1475-4991
pISSN - 0034-6586
DOI - 10.1111/roiw.12200
Subject(s) - economics , demographic economics , equity (law) , white (mutation) , distribution (mathematics) , panel study of income dynamics , social mobility , economic mobility , labour economics , wealth distribution , inequality , sociology , poverty , economic growth , political science , biology , mathematical analysis , social science , biochemistry , mathematics , law , gene
Utilizing longitudinal data from the P anel S tudy of I ncome D ynamics ( PSID ), this paper examines the relationship between parental wealth and intergenerational income mobility for black and white families. I find that total parental wealth is positively associated with upward mobility for low‐income white families, but is not associated with reduced likelihood of downward mobility for white families from the top half of the income distribution. Conversely, I find that total parental wealth does not have the same positive association for low‐income black families, while home ownership may have negative associations with the likelihood of upward mobility for these families. However, for black families from the top half of the income distribution, home equity is associated with a decreased likelihood of downward mobility, suggesting a heterogeneous relationship between home ownership and mobility for black families.