The social mobility of Valencians in Catalonia: A case study based on the 1991 Sociodemographic Survey

In this paper, we analyse the level of intra- and intergenerational social mobility of one of the oldest migrant groups in Catalonia, the Valencians, and compare them to other migrant groups from the rest of Spain. Despite sharing some socio-cultural and historical features with the population of Catalonia and becoming the largest immigrant group until the 1930s, migrants from Valencia have not been the subject of attention for scholars. Using data from the Sociodemographic Survey of 1991, the labour and economic trajectories of this group are analysed before and after migration. For the analysis of intergenerational mobility, outflow and inflow tables as well as multinomial and binomial regression are used. The results point to a greater social ascent of the Valencians in comparison to other migrant groups, although some, such as those from Aragon or Castile-León show similar levels in some dimensions of mobility.