Materfamilias: the association of mother’s work on children’s absolute income mobility, Southern Sweden (1947–2015)

Abstract

This article examines the association of mothers’ income with children’s economic mobility in a period of increased women’s labor market participation in Sweden. I found that whether a mother was economically independent and had an income similar to that of the father during her children’s late childhood and adolescence positively associated with upward mobility. The results show a substantial association of mother’s income position to their daughters’ mobility, but not for sons’. Among the primary mechanisms, I argue that extra resources from mothers helped human capital investment through education and that mothers influenced daughters by a gendered role model.