Social Mobility

Social Mobility refers to the movement of people or a social group from a specific social stratum to another. It is said that social mobility is more possible in open societies, which provides greater opportunities for mobility, than in closed societies, which fixes the individual’s position at birth. Many sociologists, such as Saunders argue that absolute social mobility is possible in the United Kingdom over the last 30 years or so, but other sociologists oppose this and argue that relative social mobility is only possible in the United Kingdom over the last 30 years or so, as some people have better opportunities than other people as a result of their social position. As a result of relative mobility, this will affect the life chances of an individual from a lower stratum than an individual from a high stratum.

Goldthorpe (1972) argues that social mobility has improved in the United Kingdom over the last 30 years or so. This is because many individuals from the manual classes had experienced upward mobility from the job they were doing. Even though his study shows that fewer than half of people surveyed stayed in their social class, into which they were born into. This study showed that many people experienced intergenerational mobility, which means that many people experienced mobility, whether it’s upward or downward mobility within a lifetime. Furthermore, Goldthorpe’s study showed that many manual working individuals experienced intragenerational mobility as a result of the rewards they received from their occupation. This study does show that social mobility has improved in the United Kingdom in the last 30 years or so, as many manual workers are becoming wealthier as a result of the financial rewards they are getting. However, does not necessarily mean that mobility is open to everyone. Could Goldthorpe’s study be inaccurate?

Goldthorpe study illustrates that your social stratum can be achieved by working hard in a meritocratic society, which shows the...