News

Nov 13, 2024

Downward mobility for rich kids nearly impossible, research suggests

couple with umbrella standing under money rain (© ArtFamily - stock.adobe.com) CANTERBURY, United Kingdom — The myth of meritocracy has just taken another hit. Fresh research from Britain reveals that

couple with umbrella standing under money rain (© ArtFamily - stock.adobe.com)

CANTERBURY, United Kingdom — The myth of meritocracy has just taken another hit. Fresh research from Britain reveals that children from elite backgrounds have an almost supernatural ability to avoid significant downward mobility, with 90% managing to stay clear of working-class occupations. For those born into elite households – the children of doctors, lawyers, and executives – the path ahead usually leads to similarly prestigious or high-paying positions, with nearly seven in 10 maintaining their elevated social position into adulthood.

This revelation comes from new research by Dr. Robert de Vries at the University of Kent, published in Social Science Research. The study challenges our previous understanding of social mobility by showing that even when children from privileged backgrounds don’t maintain their parents’ exact economic position, they often preserve their social status through prestigious if sometimes less lucrative, careers.

Traditional research on social mobility has focused primarily on economic measures – essentially, whether children end up in jobs with similar pay and conditions to their parents. But this approach missed an important piece of the puzzle: social status, or how much respect and prestige different occupations command in society.

Consider two professionals: Jane, an insurance underwriter, and Anoosh, a political correspondent. While Jane enjoys higher pay and better job security, placing her in a higher economic class, Anoosh’s creative profession carries more prestige and social cachet. Previous studies would have labeled Anoosh as downwardly mobile if she came from an elite background. But is that really accurate if she maintains a high social status, even with a lower salary?

The research analyzed data from over 111,000 employed individuals between 30 and 59 years-old who responded to the UK Labour Force Survey, Britain’s largest employment survey. By examining both the economic class and social status of respondents’ jobs and comparing them to their parents’ occupations, the study revealed patterns that previous research had missed.

This dual lens exposed striking gender differences in how privilege is inherited. Men from advantaged backgrounds typically followed paths into highly paid business or finance roles, maintaining both their parents’ economic position and social status. Women from similar backgrounds, however, often chose careers in teaching or creative professions – preserving their social status while accepting lower financial rewards.

Teaching emerged as a particularly important pathway for women from elite backgrounds. While classified as a lower professional position in terms of pay and conditions, teaching carries significant social prestige. The study found that more than half of women from elite backgrounds who moved to lower economic positions but maintained high status were teachers. Rather than representing downward mobility, this could be seen as a strategic choice – trading some economic advantage for a respected role that offers better work-life balance.

The research reveals that the “glass floor” – the invisible barrier preventing privileged children from falling too far down the social ladder – is even stronger than previously believed. When considering both economic position and social status together, only about 44% of women and 41% of men from elite backgrounds experienced any downward mobility at all. Even more striking, just 16% of women and 15% of men experienced what researchers call “long-range” downward mobility – falling more than one level in both dimensions.

The effect is particularly pronounced among certain elite subgroups. Children whose parents held jobs in the top 1% of the status hierarchy – typically traditional professionals like doctors, lawyers, and university professors – were especially likely to maintain their elevated position, with about two-thirds remaining at or near the top in terms of both class and status.

“This research shows that the UK’s ‘glass floor’ is even sturdier than we realized,” says Dr. de Vries in a statement. “The children of the most advantaged families face almost no risk of significant downward mobility – with the most likely outcome being a smooth path into a highly prestigious or highly paid job (or both).”

What’s clear from this study is that elite families have multiple ways to maintain their advantage across generations. If economic position can’t be maintained, social status offers an alternative path to preserving privilege. This “opportunity hoarding” appears particularly important for daughters, who seem more likely to be guided toward prestigious but less economically rewarding careers.

In mapping the invisible architecture of privilege, this research reveals something profound about how advantage perpetuates itself. Like water finding its way downhill, elite status seems to flow through whatever channels are available – whether through the boardroom’s economic power or the classroom’s social prestige. The question isn’t whether privilege will persist but rather which path it will take to maintain itself.

The study used data from the UK Labour Force Survey, Britain’s largest employment survey, collected between 2014-2019. The researchers analyzed information about current occupations and parent occupations (when respondents were 14) for over 111,000 employed individuals between the ages of 30 and 59.

They classified occupations by both economic class (using the National Statistics Socio-Economic Classification) and social status (using the Cambridge Social Interaction Scale, which measures occupational prestige based on marriage patterns). They then examined how people moved between different combinations of class and status across generations, looking at both individual and family-level patterns.

When looking at economic class alone, 75% of women and 59% of men from top backgrounds experienced downward mobility. However, when considering both class and status together, only 59% of women and 50% of men fell from the top. When including spouse’s position, these numbers dropped further to 44% for women and 41% for men.

Only 16% of women and 15% of men experienced “long-range” downward mobility (falling more than one level in both dimensions). Children of parents in the top 1% of the status hierarchy were particularly resistant to downward mobility, with 67-68% maintaining their elevated position.

The study couldn’t directly measure material living standards, which might underestimate the true extent of inherited privilege given the high level of material support privileged children often receive. The research also had to use marriage patterns as a proxy for social status, which some might question. Additionally, the study could only look at employed individuals, potentially missing those who left the workforce entirely.

The research reveals that downward social mobility is less common than previously thought when considering both economic class and social status. Women from privileged backgrounds often maintain high status even when moving to lower economic positions. Family-level analysis shows even stronger retention of advantage, particularly for women.

Certain elite subgroups (especially those from the most prestigious professions) are particularly resistant to downward mobility, supporting the concept of a “glass floor.” The findings suggest privileged families can maintain an advantage through either economic position or social status, making social advantage more persistent than simple economic measures might suggest.

The research was supported by a Leverhulme Research Fellowship awarded by the Leverhulme Trust (RF-2022-236\7).