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On the basis of inter-cohort comparisons, this paper describes patterns of intra-generational occupational mobility in Germany and their long-term trends since World War II. It also presents conceptual links between individual mobility and developments of inequality along the life course, with a special focus on the question of the extent to which employment careers are characterised by specific forms of cumulative advantage and disadvantage. Finally, it is asked how intra-generational developments are related to inter-generational social mobility. The paper also discusses how mobility patterns can be linked to specific institutions which - together with labour market conditions - are crucial determinants of the development of inequality within a cohort. In its empirical part, the paper presents evidence from cohort-specific analyses based on life-course data from a broad range of West German birth cohorts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Italy has always been characterized by low rates of career mobility. However, whilst the essential features of intragenerational (im)mobility in Italy are relatively well known, much less is known about the pattern of the specific paths linking the class of the first job with later class positions. To date, no studies of career mobility have been conducted in holistic terms; that is, based on examination of the entire sequence of the class positions occupied by an individual during his/her work history. This paper develops a typology of sequences of transition from one social class to another which preserves the qualitative differences among individual sequences. We introduce a new method to measure resemblance among sequences in order to identify the main career paths observable in Italy. We then examine how these profiles have changed over time because of transformations in the economic system and of the changing size of different social classes. Furthermore, we will try to determine whether and how social origins and education affect the probabilities of following those paths. The results show that social origins: 1) still influence the career patterns of younger cohorts); and 2) play a very important role in modifying the chances of highly-educated people to enter the upward career patterns leading to the service class or to white-collar positions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies of intergenerational class mobility and of intragenerational occupational mobility have of late tended to diverge in their concerns and methodology. This reflects assumptions regarding the increasing part played by education in intergenerational mobility and the decreasing part played by class origins in intragenerational mobility, once education is controlled. The paper contributes to the questioning of these assumptions on empirical grounds. Analyses are made of the occupational mobility of men in three British birth cohorts over the course of their earlier working lives. We find that while educational qualifications have a strong effect on occupational attainment, this effect does not increase across the three cohorts; that class origins also have a significant effect, and one that does not decrease across the cohorts; and that features of work-life experience, in particular the frequency of occupational changes, likewise have a persisting effect, independently of both education and class origins. Secular changes in mobility processes are thus scarcely in evidence, but the analyses do provide strong indications of a cohort effect. Men in the 1958 birth cohort, whose first years in the labour market coincided with a period of severe recession, de-industrialisation and high unemployment, would appear to have experienced various lasting disadvantages in their subsequent occupational histories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we examine the impact of temporary work on two dimensions of social inequality: income and career mobility. Additionally, we are taking a comparative perspective on this subject by comparing Germany and the UK. To investigate the effects of temporary work we use data from the German Socio-Economic Panel and the British Household Panel Study on non-self-employed respondents. The results show that temporary work does influence the system of social inequality: we found wage penalties and an increased probability of severe negative effects on the working careers of temporarily employed persons in both countries (net of education, age, and a variety of other covariates). Thus we can conclude that temporary employment represents a substantial socio-economic risk for employees. Most importantly, this holds true for both the German and the British case, two quite distinct labour market regimes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adult education may mitigate social inequalities during the life course by allowing educationally disadvantaged groups to catch up to their advantaged peers and thereby improve their career prospects. To challenge this idea, I analyze returns to adult education and implications for social inequality in transition economies, particularly in Russia. The results, based on longitudinal data from the Russian Education and Employment Survey, show that adult education either pays off equally for all groups or has a greater benefit for those who already occupy more advantageous positions. Accordingly, adult education does not facilitate mobility among those who need it most to improve their labor market prospects and opportunities. Moreover, in many cases, those who are least advantaged (e.g. lower educated, unskilled) appear to be effectively excluded from any positive payoffs of adult education due to their lower participation. Hence, despite the promise of adult education to lower social inequality, initial social inequalities are not offset but are often amplified through adult education in Russia. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article examines the role of social origins and education for career mobility in contemporary Italy by means of growth curves models. We find that opportunities for career advancement are rather limited and that risks of downward mobility are virtually negligible. Although this picture displays a noticeable degree of stability over time, a moderate increase of career fluidity across cohorts can be detected. Moreover, social origins and education exert a marked influence on the first occupation, while the subsequent career-adjustment of these initial social inequalities is rather limited. Furthermore, the small influence of origins and education on career opportunities does not display any systematic trend across cohorts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the restructuring of the employment system in post-communist societies, taking East Germany after 1989 as an example. Due to the German Democratic Republic's 'accession' to the Federal Republic of Germany in 1990, the transitional process here was a particular one. More than other post-communist transformations, the East German case is seen as a prototype of a 'simple' adaptation process. In this study we explore whether such a simple adaptation process actually occurred, with the allocation mechanisms used in West Germany being transferred to East Germany. We investigate how different kinds of human resources accumulated and exhibited before 1989 helped to promote individual career mobility after 1989. One of the central and surprising results of the analyses is that individual assets (such as mobility competencies acquired under the state-socialist regime) were of only secondary importance for success and failure in the unified labour market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]