Cross-National Research on the Intergenerational Transmission of Advantage in the U.K. and the U.S.

In 2009, the Russell Sage Foundation funded the research project 'Cross-National Research on the Intergenerational Transmission of Advantage' (CRITA). Led by Timothy Smeeding of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, John Ermisch of the University of Essex, and Markus Jäntti of Stockholm University, CRITA is a multi-country study exploring the relationship between parental socioeconomic status (SES) and the development of a child's mobility-relevant skills and attributes between preschool and adulthood. This new award will support additional comparisons between the United States and the United Kingdom across multiples stages of the life course in early childhood and adolescence. Jane Waldfogel (Columbia University), Katherine Magnuson (University of Wisconsin-Madison), and Elizabeth Washbrook (University of Bristol, England) have identified datasets from each country that have indices comparable to the original CRITA studies for a number of physical and health outcomes, socio-emotional attributes, and cognitive skills. These datasets from the U.S. (Early Childhood Longitudinal Study – Kindergarten Cohort, or ECLS-K) and the U.K. (Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, or ALSPAC) will allow the team to address the question of whether the influence of socioeconomic status that is present at school entry in both of these countries widens, holds constant, or diminishes as children move through the school years (ages 5, 7, 11, and 14). Since both the United States and United Kingdom are characterized by relatively high levels of income inequality and low levels of mobility, it is important to know whether and how schooling influences the relationship between parental SES and children's outcomes. The proposed analysis provides an opportunity to examine the question over a longer span of childhood with more detailed data on parental SES and child outcomes. When it is completed, the findings from this new research will be made available as part of the comprehensive CRITA report.