Trends in intergenerational income mobility in Japan, 1985–2015

Abstract

This paper examines trends in father-son income mobility in Japan between 1985 and 2015 using repeated cross-sectional data from the Social Stratification and Social Mobility (SSM) surveys. Fathers’ income is imputed using a two-sample two-stage least squares (TS2SLS) approach based on education and occupation. The results show that intergenerational income persistence increased substantially during the period, particularly between 1985 and 1995, broadly corresponding to the period of rising income inequality in Japan. Decomposition analysis further indicates that while the contribution of education to intergenerational persistence declined over time, the contribution of occupation increased. These findings suggest that educational expansion alone may not necessarily be accompanied by greater intergenerational income mobility.