Intergenerational transmission of inequalities and the intervening role of early life conditions: comparison of immigrant siblings in Sweden

Serhiy Dekhtyar, Lund University
Kirk A. Scott, Lund University

The paper investigates the process of intergenerational transmission of socioeconomic inequalities among immigrants in Sweden. An established body of literature suggests that parental socioeconomic status has pronounced effects on subsequent socioeconomic well-being of their children, operating primarily through early life investments in health, human capital and non-cognitive skills. The paper evaluates such findings using Swedish Longitudinal Immigrant Database and adopting a sibling approach estimation technique whereby pairs of siblings of whom one was born in the country of outmigration and the other one in Sweden are compared. The aim is to determine whether being born under advantageous early life conditions breaks down the process of intergenerational transmission of inequalities from parents to children.