INTERGENERATIONAL OCCUPATIONAL MOBILITY AMONG SOCIO-RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES IN INDIA: WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE MUSLIMS

Abstract

A growing body of evidence suggests that the parental background shapes the carrier trajectory of the children. The relationship between outcomes and parental background is significant, since high mobility suggests that children's occupational and educational performance is independent of their parents' backgrounds. The goal of this study is to improve our understanding of intergenerational occupational mobility in India's diverse socio-religious groupings. Unlike past research, which has focused on either occupational or educational mobility, this study examines both to provide a holistic scenario. Additionally, it attempts to address some of the fundamental flaws in earlier studies, such as being solely descriptive or having a narrowly defined social group base, with the omission of Muslims, the largest minority group. Some of the findings from prior research suggest that Muslims fare poorly in terms of educational mobility. While these findings are crucial for policymakers, they also pose a slew of issues. Some of these issues are: how mobile are Muslims compared to other marginalised castes, such as scheduled castes and tribes? Additionally, how do Muslim occupational and educational experiences differ from national trends? Also, can we learn more about intra-generational mobility and intergenerational expectancies of Muslims by obtaining primary data, as information on some of the variables may be missing from secondary data sources? This study addresses some of these issues. Further, it seeks to evaluate whether the impact of individual characteristics, parental variables, household characteristics, and geographic parameters on IG occupational mobility varies by the socio-religious groups in terms of occupational mobility towards skilled and education-based occupations. The following objectives 1. To examine the trends and pattern in intergenerational occupational mobility among different socio-religious groups in India. 2. To identify the differences in the impact of individual, parental, household and locational factors affecting intergenerational occupational mobility among different socio-religious groups in India. 3. To examine intergenerational occupational mobility among Muslims in India in a special reference to West UP has been achieved. This study draws data from the nationally representative survey National Sample Survey Employment-Unemployment Rounds (NSS EUS, 55th in 1999-00, 61st in 2004-05, and 68th in 2011-12) and Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS 2017-18). It chooses NSS EUS over another national-level survey Indian Human Development Survey (IHDS), because more NSS EUS are available (including updated). Also, NSS EUS is a focused labour market survey, and IHDS is a multipurpose survey. In the literature, Muslims were portrayed as a homogeneous community. However, precise specifics, such as the fact that Indian Muslims originate from various regions and castes, reveal that Muslims in India are just as diverse as other communities. The purpose of this study is to investigate the Muslims' occupational situation by collecting primary data from Western Uttar Pradesh. This region was selected following a thorough assessment of many Indian states with sizable Muslim populations, including Uttar Pradesh (West UP), Bihar (Simanchal), West Bengal (Murshidabad-Malda-North Dinajpur), and Assam (districts of the Brahmaputra and Barak valleys). The absolute mobility rates are calculated from father-son occupational mobility matrices. The row shows the sons, and the column represents fathers. The off-diagonal movement is considered as mobility, and the fraction of the same from the total is the absolute mobility rate. For the standard comparison of two mobility matrices, we have to make both with similar marginal distributions. Such calculations result in relative mobility rates. For each cross-section and for each SRC, the absolute and relative mobility rates are calculated. Further, to enquire more in detail about occupational mobility, the Multinomial Logit Model (MNL) is applied. This MNL has the son’s categorical occupations at the right-hand side of the equation and the father’s categorical occupations at the left-hand side of the equation. The relative risk ratios are calculated for the mobility analysis. To understand the mobility differences among SRCs, this functional relationship was re-run with carrying a father’s occupation and SRC interaction term. For educational mobility, the son’s years of schooling are regressed on the father’s years of schooling. This ordinary least square (OLS) regression equation’s intercept shows the mobility of offspring whose parents have zero years of schooling. The OLS’s slope shows the intergenerational persistence in education. This slope coefficient may carry the evolution in the ratio of the standard deviation of son’s and father’s years of schooling. The standardised coefficients are calculated to remove this effect, which is known as intergenerational correlation coefficients in the mobility literature. To address some of the issues of the educational mobility that came out of the OLS analysis, a logit analysis was rerun to examine the higher educational mobility among the SRCs. Eleven or more years of schooling is considered higher education. The average predicted probabilities are calculated from the logit based estimations. A separate chapter for targeted mobility directions such as mobility towards skill, education and decision-making occupations was carved out. A logit equation is applied with the binary outcome of whether the son employed in three occupations (Official and Managers, Professionals, Associate Professionals and Clerks) or not. This study finds that absolute mobility (M1) has increased over the study period.However, the relative mobility (M2) is not as intense as M1 predicts. Further, the M1 and M2 trends vary by socio-religious community. STs, for example, are the occupational group with the lowest occupational mobility. This study, on the other hand, exhibits that STs have educational mobility at the primary level. Muslims had greater occupational mobility than SCs and STs but not educational mobility. With the help of OLS’s intercept coefficient in educational mobility analysis, it was found that sons, having illiterate fathers, can only get eight or nine years of education. This study suggests that varying mobility outcomes of various SRCs can be explained by human capital (son’s education), parental background (father’s occupation) and household assets (landholding). This study also found signs of diminishing inequality among sons of fathers who do not work in higher-paying positions (category I), and who seek careers such as officials and managers, professionals, and associate professionals. This study reveals that a sizable fraction of sons in sample households remain trapped in their fathers' occupational categories. The lack of mobility among the sample households is primarily due to the younger cohort's lower occupational mobility. The younger generation, on the other hand, has demonstrated higher levels of educational mobility. Furthermore, based on primary data analysis, this study finds that only educated families have high professional and educational expectations of their children. This study notes that prior research studies have revealed limited occupational mobility for both the SC and ST groups when they are grouped together. However, when the mobility performance of STs and SCs was examined separately in this study, it was found that STs, rather than SCs, demonstrated low mobility over time. This study emphasises the significance of combining education and occupational mobility studies. By presenting intercept coefficients of IG educational mobility, this study adds empirical evidence to the sparse literature in developing countries. In developing nations where a sizable proportion of parents have little or no formal education, the intercept coefficient offers information about children's educational attainment whose parents did not acquire formal education. The observations on intragenerational mobility are quite helpful in comprehending intergenerational mobility, which contributes to this work.’ This study suggests that Muslims' low educational attainment necessitates the active support and participation of Muslim parents in promoting their children’s formal educational progression. In the case of STs, poor outcomes can be found on both the educational and occupational fronts. This is an issue that has to be addressed by policy actions. Overall, occupational mobility in Indian society is poor, as compared to other countries for intergenerational mobility. Policymakers should bear in mind that India has one of the lowest rates of occupational mobility in the world, and policies should aim to rectify this disparity in order to ensure that everyone has an equal opportunity for success. For the sample measurements and estimates, only the male child was considered. The results would have been more illuminating if the female participants had been included. Primary data-based analysis is based on a sample collected from a specific region in Uttar Pradesh. Without a doubt, a representative sample drawn from diverse parts of India is the superior alternative. As a result, caution should be exercised when extending conclusions from primary data-based studies.