Inequalities in the Risk of Multidimensional Downward Mobility From the Most Advantaged Backgrounds

Robert de Vries
Additional contact information
Robert de Vries: University of Kent, UK

Sociological Research Online, 2025, vol. 30, issue 3, 629-651

Abstract: Relatively little research has explored socio-demographic inequalities in downward mobility from advantaged backgrounds, with such work focusing solely on class or income. This neglects the multi-dimensional nature of social position and particularly overlooks the importance of social status as a reward obtained via occupation. In this study, I use detailed data from a large, representative UK sample to examine inequalities in multidimensional destinations among workers from the most advantaged class and status backgrounds. I find evidence of significant socio-demographic inequalities both in the overall risk of downward mobility and in the pattern of class versus status mobility. Notably, women from privileged families have a higher risk of downward mobility than men, but this difference is driven exclusively by class, rather than status mobility. Black workers have a higher risk of downward mobility than White workers in both class and status terms, while those of Indian ethnicity are at lower risk, particularly of downward class mobility. The study’s findings have important implications for social mobility research and policy – with specific patterns of multidimensional mobility potentially requiring different explanations (and therefore policy interventions) than the patterns revealed by previous unidimensional analyses.

Keywords: determinants; downward mobility; glass floor; inequalities; opportunity hoarding; social class; social mobility; social status (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/13607804241281175 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:socres:v:30:y:2025:i:3:p:629-651

DOI: 10.1177/13607804241281175

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Sociological Research Online
Bibliographic data for series maintained by SAGE Publications ().