Father-Son Formal-Informal Employment Persistence in Pakistan

This paper analyses the intergenerational transmission of formal-informal employment. Using the data from the Household Integrated, Income and Consumption Survey (2015-16) and applying Probit and Multinomial Logit Model, it was manifested that intergenerational persistence is higher in informal employment. The transmission of informal employment from the father to the son is higher in rural regions as compared to the urban regions. Further, scrutinizing informal employment in different occupations revealed its higher persistence in elementary occupations. In the older cohort, the likelihood of the transfer of informal employment as compared to the younger cohort was found to be higher. Father’s occupation remains the primary determinant of the sons’ entry into the labor market. There are limited chances for the sons whose fathers are in low status occupations to move to high status occupations as compared to those sons whose fathers are already employed in high status occupations.