Co-occurring occupations among siblings in Norway

Abstract

According to class theory, social class boundaries are akin to social mobility patterns. This study explores these patterns by looking at co-occurring occupations among siblings. The author uses data from Norway's population-wide registers to analyze occupational co-occurrences among siblings across 98 occupations. The association is analyzed in relative terms: how often occupations are held by both siblings compared to what would be expected if there was no statistical association between siblings’ occupations. The Mobility Network Clustering Algorithm (MONECA) identifies groups of occupations that are strongly connected. The analysis shows that siblings tend to have the same occupation. Furthermore, non-manual and manual occupations are identified as two separate groups of strongly connected occupations. The analysis also shows a more differentiated structure in occupations, with increased tendencies for siblings to be in more narrow subgroups of the occupational structure. In the non-manual group, occupations in management, finance, business, and sales form a separate cluster from administrative workers, the professions, and cultural-artistic occupations. Beyond this, the occupational structure is differentiated into smaller subgroups.