Knowra Social mobility Social mobility Social mobility is movement between positions in a society’s social hierarchy, within a person’s lifetime or across generations. It can involve changes in income, occupation, education, or social status.
Intergenerational mobility : The relationship between the socioeconomic position of parents and that of their children as adults. It isolates mobility between generations, a central way to assess whether family origins shape adult outcomes.
Income mobility : Movement between levels of income over time or between generations. Income is a widely measured dimension of movement through the social hierarchy.
Social reproduction : The processes through which social inequalities and positions persist across generations. It describes the persistence that mobility measures against.
Life chances : A person's opportunities to achieve valued outcomes, such as health, education, income, and security. Mobility changes—or reflects—the opportunities attached to social origins and destinations.
Intragenerational mobility : Change in an individual's social or economic position over the course of their lifetime. It tracks movement within a generation, distinct from comparisons between parents and children.
Occupational mobility : Movement between occupations that differ in prestige, authority, or socioeconomic standing. Occupational changes reveal shifts in position beyond income alone.
Social change : Large-scale transformation in a society's institutions, relationships, norms, or structure over time. Societal transformation can alter the hierarchy itself, not just movement within it.
Poverty trap : A condition in which interacting disadvantages make it difficult for people to escape poverty. Persistent barriers can block movement from low socioeconomic positions.
Absolute mobility : Change in people's living standards or occupational positions, without comparison to other people's outcomes. It distinguishes rising living standards from changes in rank within the hierarchy.
Educational mobility : Differences between the educational attainment of parents and their children. Education can transmit advantage or enable movement beyond family origins.
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