RT Journal Article SR Electronic(1) A1 van Houten, Jasper M.A. A1 Visser, Mark A1 Ultee, Wout C.YR 2011 T1 De Tweede Wereldoorlog en statusverwerving JF Mens & Maatschappij, VO 86 IS 4 SP 372 OP 394 DO https://doi.org/10.5117/MEM2011.4.HOUT PB Amsterdam University Press, SN 1876-2816, AB World War II and occupational status attainment. In this study we include personal war experiences in Duncan’s path model of status attainment to answer the following research question: To what extent can personal war experiences explain the occupational status of Dutch people who experienced World War II? We expect that personal war experiences have a detrimental effect on the human capital formation, which in turn leads to a lower educational level and a lower occupational status. To test our hypotheses, we use unique individual-level data from the ‘Onderzoek naar Doorsnee Nederlanders in de oorlog’, which was conducted from 2005 to 2010 (N = 346). The results of our path analysis show that people who were forced to work in Germany or the Netherlands during the war obtained a lower educational level and subsequently a lower occupational status. Physical destruction of one’s house also has a negative effect on occupational status through education. In addition, we found some direct effects of personal war experiences on the occupational status., UL https://www.aup-online.com/content/journals/10.5117/MEM2011.4.HOUT