Economic Restructuring and Intra-Generational Class Mobility in Mexico

This paper compares men's career opportunities and intra-generational class mobility across periods with markedly different development strategies in Mexico. Despite its significance for social stratification and inequality in Mexico, research on mobility has been relatively scant in recent decades. Using data from the National Retrospective Demographic Survey, my analysis connects development strategies to individual career opportunities by comparing intra-generational class mobility across three cohorts of Mexican men. Results show that occupational opportunities failed to keep pace with rising human capital in Mexico under the neoliberal regime. Instead, entry and mobility into good jobs became more difficult to achieve and downward mobility more prevalent even among highly educated workers.