Intergenerational Transmission of Skills (ITS)In Progress

The Intergenerational Transmission of Skills (ITS) project has developed a unique and unparalleled database, linking skills of parents to skills of children. This database (internally also referred to as the ‘Goldmine project’) currently provides information on some 25,000 parents and 41,000 of their children. In the future, this database will continue to expand with new data. The unique feature of the dataset is that skills of parents and their children were measured at the same age (both around age 12) and with the same test (a national test measuring proficiency in language and math skills). This linked dataset is enriched with extensive information on the grandparents, the parents, and the children. This makes the ITS database unique in the world.

  • The dataset

    The foundation for the ITS database is provided by linking cohort survey data gathered in the 1970’s and 1980’s containing the skill measures of the parent generation, to register data available at Statistics Netherlands, in particular the NCO database (Nationaal Cohortonderzoek Onderwijs) and the CITO database, which includes the skill measures of the children’s generation, children’s educational career and current characteristics of their parents. We gratefully acknowledge a data grant received from the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science and the Netherlands Initiative for Education Research (NRO: grant 405-17-900) to construct the database. For more information on the dataset, see Jacobs, van der Velden, and Vermeulen (2021).

    The ITS dataset is available as micro dataset in the highly secure environment of Statistics Netherlands (in Dutch ’CBS’). For more information about the dataset and getting access, please visit the ITS dataset pages on the CBS and NCO websites.

    The research group

    The ITS research group consists of a multidisciplinary team of sociologists and economists. In our program, we provide young researchers the opportunity to collaborate with senior researchers to learn and develop their skills. The title of our project thus also reflects our working philosophy, by explicitly aiming for interdisciplinary and intergenerational transmission of scientific skills.

    External project members: Rick Hanushek (Hoover Institution, Stanford University), Matthijs Kalmijn (NIDI), Guido Schwerdt (University of Konstanz), Stan Vermeulen (Dutch Inspectorate of Education), Simon Wiederhold (KU Eichstaett-Ingolstadt). 

    Publications

    • Bles, P., & van der Velden, R. (2024). The Role of School Quality in the Intergenerational Transmission of Skills. Chapter in  doctoral thesis.
    • Hanushek, E. A., Jacobs, B., Schwerdt, G., Van der Velden, R., Vermeulen, S., & Wiederhold, S. (2021). The Intergenerational Transmission of Cognitive Skills: An Investigation of the Causal Impact of Families on Student Outcomes. ROA Research Memoranda No. 007, Maastricht University.
    • Hanushek, E. A., Jacobs, B., Schwerdt, G., Van der Velden, R., Vermeulen, S., & Wiederhold, S. (2023). Where do STEM graduates stem from? The intergenerational transmission of comparative skill advantages (No. w31186). National Bureau of Economic Research.
    • Jacobs, B., Huijts, T., & Van der Velden, R.  (2025). The Influence of Parental Resources on Early Math and Reading Performance and Subsequent Learning Growth during Primary Education. Chapter in doctoral thesis.
    • Jacobs, B., Kalmijn, M., & van der Velden R. (2025). The Impact of Parental Separation on Children’s Math and Language Skills: Evidence From Matched Longitudinal School Survey and Register Data. Chapter in doctoral thesis.
    • Jacobs, B., Vermeulen, S., & van der Velden, R., (2021). The Intergenerational Transmission of Skills dataset. ROA Technical Reports; ROA-TR-2021/No. 007). Maastricht: Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market.
    • Jacobs, B., & van der Velden, R. (2021). Exploring the Uncharted Waters of Educational Mobility: The Role of Key Skills. ROA Research Memoranda No. 006, Maastricht University.
    • Jacobs, B., & van der Velden, R. (2024). Family resources and children's skills: development of a skills attainment model.  European Societies, 26(4), 975-1011.
    • Van Vugt, L., Van der Velden, R. & Levels, M. (2023). Which parental resources protect against early school-leaving? A structural equation modeling approach. Chapter in doctoral thesis.
    • Van Vugt, L., Van der Velden, R. & Levels, M. (2023). Family shocks and early school-leaving. Chapter in doctoral thesis.

    Papers under review

    • Vugt, L. van, R.van der Velden, M. Levels, Which parental resources protect against early school-leaving? A structural equation modeling approach
    • Vugt, L. van, R.van der Velden, M. Levels, Turning points: Major life events and early school-leaving
    • Hanushek, E., B. Jacobs, G. Schwerdt, R. van der Velden, S. Vermeulen, S. Wiederhold, Where Do STEM Graduates Stem From? The Intergenerational Transmission of Comparative Skill Advantages
    • Jacobs, B., M. Kalmijn, R. van der Velden, The Impact of Parental Separation on Children’s Math and Language Skills: Evidence From Matched Longitudinal School Survey and Register Data

    Datasets
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