FATHERS BESTOW INCOME GAP TO CHILDREN

A new study by a Princeton University economist finds a greater correlation between the earnings of fathers and their sons - that is, less intergenerational income mobility - than previous studies have shown. David Zimmerman, analyzing a sample of 876 independent father-son pairs and their earnings over a 15-year stretch, found a father-son income correlation of 0.4. That is, for every 10 percent a father earns above the average, a son has a built-in 4 percent earnings advantage. Most previous work had found correlations less than 0.2.