The influence of education on social mobility in Croatia and Greece: a comparative analysis

Abstract

This paper explores social mobility in Greece and Croatia among individuals born between 1950-2000, focusing on the role of education in occupational and educational mobility. We draw information on both dimensions from the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) survey. When intergenerational educational mobility is examined our findings show a downward trend of upward mobility with the outcomes being better for women in both countries. They also suggest that individuals whose parents have a low level of education are significantly less likely to complete tertiary education than those whose parents have higher levels of education. Exploring intergenerational occupational mobility as an indicator of relative mobility reveals a growing persistence of the influence of parental occupational status on children’s outcomes. Although the influence of education is slightly stronger in Greece, higher educational levels increase the probability of upward occupational mobility in both countries.