This dissertation is composed of four chapters. The first chapter provides an overview of the literature this dissertation seeks to contribute to and summarizes the subsequent chapters. Each of the following chapters delves into specific circumstances where socioeconomic advantage or disadvantage in one generation can persist and influence the outcomes of the next. The second chapter, "Essentially Heterogeneous: The Consequences of Teen Childbearing on Ecuadorian Mothers and Children," investigates the widely held belief that teen childbearing perpetuates low socioeconomic across generations. Specifically, I estimate the marginal effects of teen childbearing on schooling and labor outcomes for Ecuadorian mothers and schooling and health outcomes for their firstborn children. Findings suggest that women whose unobservables make them less likely to become teen mothers have fewer years of schooling, lower high school completion rates, and participate less in the labor force. Women whose unobservable characteristics make them more likely to become teen mothers do not have their schooling attainment negatively impacted and increase their labor force participation. I do not find evidence of negative effects or effect heterogeneity for firstborn outcomes. These findings may help reconcile seemingly conflicting evidence from past studies and imply that there is potential to improve women's outcomes by reducing teen childbearing rates when opportunity costs are sufficiently high. However, they counter the belief that teen childbearing has been a significant source of intergenerational transmission of low socioeconomic status. The third chapter, "Early Life Nutritional Improvements and Intergenerational Impacts on Education: Evidence from the INCAP Nutritional Supplementation Study," explores the intergenerational benefits of early-life nutritional interventions. Using data from the INCAP longitudinal nutritional supplementation trial in Guatemala, the essay examines the effects of parental early-life protein supplementation on their children's educational outcomes. The study employs a difference-in-difference framework and finds that children of early-treated male participants have higher enrollment rates and educational attainment. In contrast, the children of female participants showed no significant effects. These findings highlight the potential for early-life nutritional interventions to confer intergenerational benefits, contributing valuable insights into policy design for sustainable human capital development. The third essay, "Family Income Before Adulthood and Early Occupational Status 1979-2019: A Cohort Analysis using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics," analyzes the correlation between family income before adulthood and early occupational status across different generations in the US. Using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, the essay constructs cohorts of employed individuals and examines the relationship between family income quintiles and occupational status quintiles. The findings reveal a strong correlation, with individuals from high-income families being more likely to occupy higher occupational quintiles and those from low-income families being more likely to be in lower quintiles. This pattern intensifies over time, indicating a growing disparity in economic mobility.