Social fluidity mobilizes contagion in human and animal populations

Humans and other group-living animals tend to distribute their social effort disproportionately. Individuals predominantly interact with a small number of close companions while maintaining weaker social bonds with less familiar group members. By incorporating this behavior into a mathematical model, we find that a single parameter, which we refer to as social fluidity, controls the rate of social mixing within the group. Large values of social fluidity correspond to gregarious behavior, whereas small values signify the existence of persistent bonds between individuals. We compare the social fluidity of 13 species by applying the model to empirical human and animal social interaction data. To investigate how social behavior influences the likelihood of an epidemic outbreak, we derive an analytical expression of the relationship between social fluidity and the basic reproductive number of an infectious disease. For species that form more stable social bonds, the model describes frequency-dependent transmission that is sensitive to changes in social fluidity. As social fluidity increases, animal-disease systems become increasingly density-dependent. Finally, we demonstrate that social fluidity is a stronger predictor of disease outcomes than both group size and connectivity, and it provides an integrated framework for both density-dependent and frequency-dependent transmission.

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

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.

Social Origins of German Emigrants: Maintaining Social Status Through International Mobility?

The prospect of upward social mobility is a central motive for international migration. Curiously, the nexus of spatial and social mobility attracted attention only relatively late and existing research on intergenerational social mobility usually concentrates on the constellation within the nation state. This chapter expands on this literature by investigating the intergenerational social mobility of international German migrants from the perspective of the country of origin. First, we focus on the social origin of internationally mobile and non-mobile persons using data from the German Emigration and Remigration Panel Study (GERPS) and the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP). How do the two groups differ in their social background? What kinds of capitals do international migrants inherit from their parents? In a second step, this chapter explores the differences in social fluidity between migrants and non-migrants. Does international mobility increase social fluidity? Our findings suggest that German emigrants are positively selected in terms of their social origin. Their parents are more likely to have academic degrees and to belong to the upper service classes compared with non-migrants. Although social fluidity is not significantly higher among emigrants compared with non-migrants, their risk of downward social mobility is significantly reduced.

Social Mobility from a Comparative Perspective Between Europe and Latin America

This chapter presents a review of the analysis of social mobility in the international sphere (Europe and Latin America), with a particular focus on the partner countries of the INCASI network. To date, few studies have linked nations whose economic and social aspects are so dissimilar.As is usual in the specialized literature, the relationship between social origin and class destination is addressed. This is done by noting the comparisons made across the geographical areas. We review the analyses that have been made of the evolution of social fluidity as well as the distance between social classes within each country and the comparisons made between them.We compare the main theories that have inspired the study of social mobility to date: modernization theory, which predicts an increase in relative mobility rates, and invariance theory, which postulates the constancy of social fluidity. Special attention is devoted to the role played by the family, the state and the market in late industrialized countries.We study the difficulties for social change, i.e. upward mobility from one class to another, as well as the likelihood of reproduction in comparative terms. To do so, we link these mechanisms with the AMOSIT model. The advances in methodology, techniques, theory and data processing are highlighted.

Social Fluidity in Children's Face-to-Face Interaction Networks

During free play, children decide with which peers they want to spend their time. The distribution of time and social effort amongst their peers can be indicative for the inclusivity of the group. In this appraisal paper, we explore a recently introduced measure to estimate social mixing in groups, called social fluidity. We estimate social fluidity for 27 data sets of children's face-to-face interaction networks collected during playtime breaks and discuss how this measure can be used by field experts to characterize group behavior as well as individual behavior. We therefore draft a step-by-step plan to analyze proximity data based on the behavioral model and the social fluidity measure introduced by Colman et al.

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

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.