Crises and Intergenerational Mobility

Abstract

I study the impact of the Great Depression on the educational attainment and intergenerational education mobility of U.S. males. I collect local data on youth unemployment and school quality during the Depression and study their effect on secondary education. Using Census data on males and their fathers, my difference-in-differences strategy attempts to explain the variation in schooling and mobility across cohorts. I find that worsening labor markets for youth significantly increased the school attendance of youth from poor, but not wealthy, families while public spending cuts decreased it. Overall, I find that the Depression increased intergenerational education mobility.