Giulia Bovini (Bank of Italy)
Marta De Philippis and Lucia Rizzica
We study the presence and the extent of gender differences in the intergenerational transmission of occupations and relate this to the perpetuation of gender gaps in the labour market. To these ends, we use a novel rich dataset that we built from various administrative sources and that combines detailed information on childrens early occupational outcomes and earnings together with that about their parents at the time the child completed education. The data cover seven cohorts of Italian students and their parents. We find a strong gendered pattern of persistence in occupations: sons are more likely to follow their fathers footsteps and daughters to follow their mothers. This implies a transmission of gender gaps over generations. We also document that occupational persistence is U-shaped along the family income distribution. The interaction between family income and the degree of gender homophily may produce an amplification or a dumpening of gender gaps.