Demographic Pathways of Class Perception: Intergenerational Mobility and Marriage Market Dynamics

DANIELA BELLANI, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
Eleonora Clerici , University of Pavia
Nevena Kulic, University of Pavia
Debora Mantovani, UNiversità di Bologna
Loris Vergolini, Università di Bologna

This study explores how intergenerational and intra-couple social mobility shape individuals’ perceptions of social class across 38 countries. Using data from the 2009 and 2019 rounds of the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) on Social Inequality, we link objective and subjective dimensions of class identification through multilevel logistic regression models. The analysis considers both parental and partner occupational status to capture the combined influence of intergenerational and intra-couple dynamics on perceived social position. Findings reveal that there is a lingering effect of the class of origin on subjective social class that operates the same for all respondent’s occupations. In contrast, intra-couple mobility displays a more nuanced and gendered pattern: women’s class perceptions are particularly sensitive to their partner’s occupational standing, indicating that household configurations play a crucial role in shaping class identities. By integrating life-course and relational perspectives, this study highlights how intergenerational and intra-couple social mobility contributes to enduring misconceptions of social position. These results underscore the need to interpret class identification not solely as an individual attribute but as a relational construct, embedded in intergenerational transmission, gender dynamics, and household contexts.

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 Presented in Session P7. Education, Labor Market, and Economic Issues