Trends in Intergenerational Class Mobility in Modern Britain: Evidence From National Surveys, 1972—2005

2008 ◽  
Vol 205 ◽  
pp. 83-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
John H. Goldthorpe ◽  
Colin Mills
Keyword(s):  
Social Mobility ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Downward Mobility ◽  
National Surveys ◽  
Class Mobility ◽  
Modern Britain ◽  
Social Fluidity ◽  
Prevailing View ◽  
Representative Samples ◽  
Over Time

We present analyses of intergenerational social class mobility based on data from representative samples of the British population from 1972 to 2005. We distinguish throughout between absolute and relative rates of mobility. As regards absolute rates, we find little or no change in total mobility rates over the period covered. In the case of men, there is also little change in rates of upward and downward mobility — in contrast with the middle decades of the twentieth century when upward mobility steadily increased while downward mobility fell. This latter pattern does, however, prevail in the case of women. As regards relative rates, we again find, for men and women alike, an essential constancy over time. This, then, indicates that such changes as are apparent in absolute rates derive from shifts in class distributions rather than from any significant increase or decrease in social fluidity. Our results are contrary to the prevailing view in political and media circles that in Britain today the level of social mobility is in decline, although for men the pattern of mobility has become less favourable. We end with some remarks on policy implications.

Cutting Through

Uneven Odds ◽  
2018 ◽  
pp. 171-206
Author(s):  
Divya Vaid
Keyword(s):  
Social Class ◽  
Affirmative Action ◽  
Social Mobility ◽  
National Level ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Downward Mobility ◽  
Class Mobility ◽  
Specific Occupation ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Over Time

This chapter brings out the influence of caste on social class mobility and analyses in detail the association between caste and social class in India. While theories of social change posit a decline in the impact of caste on social mobility over time, this chapter questions whether we see evidence of this at the national level. More crucially has the association between caste and class declined? And, has the relative importance of caste on achieveing a specific occupation, and hence social mobility, also declined overtime? In light of debates on affirmative action, this chapter asks whether certain castes find it harder to take advantage of upward class mobility chances, and conversely whether some castes are cushioned from downward mobility chances.

Social Mobility in the Twentieth Century in Europe and the United States

2020 ◽  
pp. 251-296
Author(s):  
Richard Breen ◽  
Walter Müller
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Structural Change ◽  
Social Mobility ◽  
The United States ◽  
Educational Expansion ◽  
Strong Indication ◽  
Downward Mobility ◽  
The Us ◽  
European Economies ◽  
Social Fluidity

Summarizing the findings of the country chapters, this chapter addresses the question: How did intergenerational social mobility change over cohorts born in the first two-thirds of the twentieth century? What role, if any, did education play in this? As education expanded, its association to class origins weakened, especially among earlier-born cohorts—a strong indication that growing education equalization may have been important in increasing social fluidity. There is also a strong link between upward mobility and social fluidity, the former mostly driven by the expansion of higher-level white-collar jobs. Educational expansion, equalization, and rapid structural change in the US and European economies all contributed to greater social fluidity among people born before the middle of the century. For people born later, rates of downward mobility have increased: however, despite the lack of further educational equalization and less-pronounced structural change, social fluidity has remained unchanged.

scholarly journals Education and intergenerational social mobility in the US and four European countries

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 445-466 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Breen
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Structural Change ◽  
Social Mobility ◽  
Upward Mobility ◽  
Second World War ◽  
Educational Expansion ◽  
Downward Mobility ◽  
The Us ◽  
Social Fluidity ◽  
Second World

Abstract I draw on the findings of a recently completed comparative research project to address the question: how did intergenerational social mobility change over cohorts of men and women born in the first two-thirds of the twentieth century, and what role, if any, did education play in this? The countries studied are the US, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden. Notwithstanding the differences between them, by and large they present the same picture. Rates of upward mobility increased among cohorts born in the second quarter of the century and then declined among those born later. Among earlier born cohorts, social fluidity increased (that is, the association between the class a person was born into and the class he or she came to occupy as an adult declined) and then remained unchanged for those born after mid-century. The association between class origins and educational attainment followed much the same trend as social fluidity. This suggests that growing equalization in education may have contributed to the increase in social fluidity. In our analyses we find that this is so, but educational expansion also led to greater fluidity in some countries. There is also a strong link between upward mobility and social fluidity. Upward mobility was mostly driven by the expansion of higher-level white-collar jobs, especially in the 30 years after the end of the Second World War. This facilitated social fluidity because people from working class and farming origins could move into the service or salariat classes without reducing the rate at which children born into those classes could remain there. Educational expansion, educational equalization, and rapid structural change in the economies of the US and Europe all contributed to greater social fluidity among people born in the second quarter of the twentieth century. For people born after mid-century, rates of downward mobility have increased: however, despite the lack of further educational equalization and less pronounced structural change, social fluidity has remained unchanged.

scholarly journals Is Social Mobility Really Declining? Intergenerational Class Mobility in Britain in the 1990s and the 2000s

2011 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 28-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yaojun Li ◽  
Fiona Devine
Keyword(s):  
Social Mobility ◽  
Upward Mobility ◽  
Household Survey ◽  
Downward Mobility ◽  
Ongoing Debate ◽  
The Public ◽  
Class Mobility ◽  
Time Period ◽  
General Household Survey

This paper contributes to the ongoing debate on social mobility in contemporary Britain among economists and sociologists. Using the 1991 British Household Panel Survey and the 2005 General Household Survey, we focus on the mobility trajectories of male and female respondents aged 25-59. In terms of absolute mobility, we find somewhat unfavourable trends in upward mobility for men although long-term mobility from the working class into salariat positions is still in evidence. An increase in downward mobility is clearly evident. In relation to women, we find favourable trends in upward mobility and unchanging downward mobility over the fourteen-year time period. With regard to relative mobility, we find signs of greater fluidity in the overall pattern and declining advantages of the higher salariat origin for both men and women. We consider these findings in relation to the public debate on social mobility and the academic response and we note the different preoccupations of participants in the debate. We conclude by suggesting that the interdisciplinary debate between economists and sociologists has been fruitful although a recognition of similarities, and not simply differences in position, pushes knowledge and understanding forward.

scholarly journals Better times to come? Intergenerational class mobility of labour market entrants in Germany and the UK since the 1950s

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nhat An Trinh ◽  
Erzsebet Bukodi
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Upward Mobility ◽  
Labour Force ◽  
Relative Mobility ◽  
Downward Mobility ◽  
Class Mobility ◽  
The 1950S ◽  
To Come ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Social Fluidity

This study examines over-time trends in intergenerational class mobility based on cohorts of labour market entrants in Germany and the UK since the 1950s. We calculate absolute and relative mobility rates, separately for men and women, using the German Socio-Economic Panel (1984-2016), the UK Household Longitudinal Study (2009-2016), and the UK Labour Force Survey (2014-2017). Regarding absolute mobility, we find marked country differences in upward and downward rates. In Germany, downward mobility decreased, while upward mobility rose. In the UK, downward mobility increased, while upward mobility declined. We provide evidence that these differences can be linked to contrasting changes in the distribution of origin and destination classes. Regarding relative mobility, striking country similarities appear. For both countries, we observe increases in social fluidity for respondents entering the labour market during the 1950s and 1960s that cease to continue for cohorts thereafter. Comparisons between adjacent cohorts do not provide evidence that social fluidity follows cyclical developments of the economy or shorter-term volatilities in the labour market.

scholarly journals Intragenerational Social Mobility and Wellbeing in Great Britain. A Biomarker Approach

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Präg ◽  
Nina-Sophie Fritsch ◽  
Lindsay Richards
Keyword(s):  
Social Mobility ◽  
Social Theory ◽  
Allostatic Load ◽  
Occupational Class ◽  
Downward Mobility ◽  
Null Results ◽  
Class Mobility ◽  
Self Rated Health ◽  
Outright Rejection ◽  
The Uk

Social theory has long predicted that social mobility, in particular downward social mobility, is detrimental to the wellbeing of individuals. Dissociative and ‘falling from grace’ theories suggest that mobility is stressful due to the weakening of social ties, feelings of alienation, and loss of status. In light of these theories, it is a puzzle that the majority of quantitative studies in this area have shown null results. Our approach to resolve the puzzle is twofold. First, we argue for a broader conception of the mobility process than is often used and thus focus on intragenerational occupational class mobility rather than restricting ourselves to the more commonly studied intergenerational mobility. Second, we argue that self-reported measures may be biased by habituation (or ‘entrenched deprivation’). Using nurse-collected health and biomarker data from the UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS, 2010–12, N = 4,123), we derive a measure of allostatic load as an objective gauge of physiological ‘wear and tear,’ and compare patterns of mobility effects with self-reports of health using diagonal reference models. Our findings indicate a strong class gradient in both allostatic load and self-rated health, and that both first and current job matter for current wellbeing outcomes. However, in terms of the effects of mobility itself, we find that intragenerational social mobility is consequential for allostatic load, but not for self-rated health. Downward mobility is detrimental and upward mobility beneficial for wellbeing as assessed by allostatic load. Thus, these findings do not support the idea of generalized stress from dissociation, but they do support the ‘falling from grace’ hypothesis of negative downward mobility effects. Our findings have a further implication, namely that the differences in mobility effects between the objective and subjective outcome infer the presence of entrenched deprivation. Null results in studies of self-rated outcomes may therefore be a methodological artifact, rather than an outright rejection of decades-old social theory.

Social class mobility in modern Britain: changing structure, constant process

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
John H. Goldthorpe
Keyword(s):  
Resistance To Change ◽  
Structure Constant ◽  
Class Structure ◽  
Downward Mobility ◽  
Term Stability ◽  
Class Mobility ◽  
Long Term Stability ◽  
Competitive Edge ◽  
Modern Britain

The class structure provides an important context for the study of social mobility. The evolution of the class structure is the all-important factor determining individuals’ changing experience of mobility, as expressed in absolute rates. The total mobility rate shows long-term stability; but, because of structural change, trends of rising upward and falling downward mobility in the mid-20th century are now being reversed. Relative mobility rates, comparing the chances of individuals of different class origins arriving at different class destinations, also show long-term stability. All this is evident over a period of more or less continuous educational expansion and reform—thus calling into question the belief that educational policy is key to promoting mobility. Education is best considered as a ‘positional’ good; and the motivation, and capacity, of parents in more advantaged class positions to help their children maintain their competitive edge in the educational system, and in turn in labour markets, underlies the resistance to change that the mobility regime displays.

scholarly journals Education and Intergenerational Social Mobility in Europe and the United States

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
Social Mobility ◽  
Upward Mobility ◽  
Social Background ◽  
The United States ◽  
Downward Mobility ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Class Mobility ◽  
The Social

This book is about the role of education in shaping rates and patterns of intergenerational social mobility among men and women during the twentieth century. It examines intergenerational class mobility in the United States and seven European countries during this period. Class mobility compares the social class position of men and women with the class of the family they were born into. Mobility trends have been similar in all these countries, with increasing upward mobility among people born up to about 1950 and increasing downward mobility for those born later. The major driver of upward mobility was the massive changes in the occupational structure that took place in the thirty years after the end of World War II. Education was also important in promoting greater openness, not only through the growth of higher education, but also because, in many cases, the relationship between social background and educational attainment weakened.

scholarly journals Social Mobility in China

2021 ◽  
pp. 221-246
Author(s):  
Yaojun Li
Keyword(s):  
Social Mobility ◽  
Relative Mobility ◽  
Birth Cohorts ◽  
Downward Mobility ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Class Mobility ◽  
Class Differences ◽  
Sociological Approach ◽  
Urban Rural

This chapter analyses intergenerational class mobility in China as a case study of a quantitative sociological approach to social mobility research in the Global South. Drawing on national representative surveys collected between 2010 and 2015 in China, the analysis focuses on absolute and relative mobility rates for men and women across four birth cohorts. With regard to absolute mobility, we find rising levels of mobility, with upward mobility prevailing over downward mobility. With regard to relative mobility, we find constancy for the older cohorts but a growing rigidity for the youngest cohort of men. The urban–rural divide is increasingly blurred, but class differences are becoming more salient, especially between the professional-managerial salariat and the rest of society in occupational and educational attainment.

scholarly journals Subjective social mobility, quality of life and mental health of asylum seekers/refugees in Germany

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
D Costa ◽  
L Biddle ◽  
C Mühling ◽  
K Bozorgmehr
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Status ◽  
Social Mobility ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Country Of Origin ◽  
Subjective Social Status ◽  
Downward Mobility ◽  
Asylum Seekers And Refugees

Abstract Background Changes in the subjective social status (SSS) of migrants, specifically between the pre- and post-migratory movement, can be a relevant determinant of their mental health condition. This study analyzed the effect of downward subjective social mobility to the mental health of asylum seekers and refugees (ASR) in Germany. Methods Through a random sampling procedure, 560 adult ASR (18+ years) were recruited across 58 collective accommodation centers in Germanys' 3rd largest state (2018). SSS was assessed with the MacArthur social ladder (10-rungs), in reference to the participants' position in the country of origin and in Germany. Quality of Life (QoL, measured with EUROHIS-QOL), anxiety (General Anxiety Disorder-2) and depressive symptoms (Patient Health Questionnaire-2), were considered as mental health outcomes. Generalized linear regression models were fitted to measure associations between changes in SSS and each outcome. Results A loss of 3 or more steps in SSS from origin to Germany (compared to no-change) was significantly associated with poorer scores in QoL (B, standardized coefficient= -2.679, standard error, se = 1.351, p = 0.047), with more symptoms of depression (B = 1.156, se = 0.389, p = 0.003) and anxiety (B = 0.971, se = 0.432, p = 0.025), in models adjusted for SSS in the country of origin. The strength and direction of associations was unaltered after further adjusting for sex, age, educational level and time since arrival, although the coefficient for QoL was non-significant for those declaring a 3-step downward mobility (B= -2.494, se = 1.351, p = 0.066 for QoL; B = 1.048, se = 0.393, p = 0.008 for depression; and B = 1.006, se = 0.438, p = 0.022 for anxiety). Discussion The results suggest that interventions should focus on those experiencing social downward mobility and not only prioritize individuals with low social status. Early integration efforts and intersectoral measures to counter social downward mobility could prevent poor mental health among ASR. Key messages We analysed the impact to the quality of life and mental health of asylum seekers and refugees, of a change in subjective social status from country of origin to Germany. Asylum seekers and refugees residing in Germany, who perceived a downward social status mobility following their migration process, are at risk for poorer mental health.

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