Assortative Mating, Inequality, and Rising Educational Mobility in Spain

TL;DR

This paper investigates how rising educational mobility in Spain over recent decades is linked to declines in inequality and assortative mating, highlighting the role of spousal sorting in shaping intergenerational educational outcomes.

Contribution

It provides new empirical evidence on the relationship between assortative mating, inequality, and mobility in Spain, emphasizing regional variations and the mediating role of spousal sorting.

Findings

Mobility increased by one-third over recent decades.

Declines in inequality and assortative mating are closely linked to increased mobility.

Spousal sorting explains nearly half of regional variation in intergenerational educational correlations.

Abstract

We study the evolution of intergenerational educational mobility and related distributional statistics in Spain. Over recent decades, mobility has risen by one-third, coinciding with pronounced declines in inequality and assortative mating among the same cohorts. To explore these patterns, we examine regional correlates of mobility, using split-sample techniques. A key finding from both national and regional analyses is the close association between mobility and assortative mating: spousal sorting accounts for nearly half of the regional variation in intergenerational correlations and also appears to be a key mediator of the negative relationship between inequality and mobility documented in recent studies.