Is the Status Structure in the United States Really More Fluid for Women Than for Men?

Abstract

Using data from the 1973-1977 General Social Surveys of the National Opinion Research Center this report discusses the differences in status mobility among US men and women aged 25-54. In response to 3 1970 articles written on the same subject the author contends that previous conclusions that married womens mobility is greater than that of mens are premature. Although the conclusions drawn in this study are similiar to previous conclusions a computed 2 tailed probability for the male-female differences in the correlation and regression coefficients is used. This procedure allows for a high confidence level to support the conclusion that the relationships studied do not result from sampling variability. Results show that females who have origins both high and low in the economic hierarchy are more likely to remain near their level of origin than are the males of the same origin. In addition high status families are better able to confer high economic standing on their daughters than on their sons and low status families tend to confer a greater economic handicap on their daughters than on their sons. After accounting for other variables which could cause reservations about the validity of this study it is concluded that among whites in the US there has been greater intergenerational transmission of economic status among women than among men.