Colloquium in September 2025
Dohoon Lee (Seoul National University)
How does intergenerational social mobility matter for family formation and childbearing?
To address this question, this study (1) distinguishes between relative and absolute mobility; (2) conceptualizes intergenerational mobility as a central social contextual factor shaping demographic behaviors; and (3) empirically evaluates competing theoretical perspectives on the roles of relative and absolute mobility.
Using data from the Korean Labor and Income Panel Study (KLIPS) and event history analysis, the present research estimates the relative influence of each type of social mobility and assesses gender differences. The study discusses the implications of the structure of social stratification for family formation and parenthood in an era of lowest-low fertility.
