The SHARE International Seminar Series (SISS) presents:

Intergenerational mobility in education: Implications for financial and subjective well-being in Europe

Abstract

Family background shapes economic outcomes and subjective well-being across the life course. This presentation brings together two studies examining how intergenerational mobility in education relates to well-being in later life, highlighting the experiences of upwardly mobile individuals and their lower-educated parents.

The first study investigates whether parental education remains relevant for adults’ earnings in mid- to later life and how this may differ across European welfare regimes. The second study shifts focus to the older generation and asks whether parents’ well-being is linked to their adult children’s educational trajectories. It examines how upward mobility within families relates to parental life satisfaction and explores potential pathways through which children’s achievements may matter for parents.

Together, the talk aims to provide insights into the importance of intergenerational educational dynamics for well-being across family generations, contributing to broader discussions on social mobility, inequality, and subjective well-being in an ageing Europe.

Biography

Alina Schmitz is a sociologist and postdoctoral researcher at TU Dortmund University (Germany). Her work focuses on gender and socioeconomic inequalities in the determinants of (mental) health and subjective well-being from a cross-national perspective.