Intergenerational Mobility and Social Class Stratification in Australia - Essay Example

Intergenerational Mobility in Australia Name Course Name Instructor’s Name Date Social Mobility Theme: Intergenerational Mobility in Australia Mobility can be defined as any shift or movement from one place or position to another. Social mobility, therefore, relates to people whereby they move from one social position to another which results in change. The movement may be horizontal where change is not very significant, vertical where either one climbs the ladder or downwards where the person downgrades to a lower status in terms of social levels. The movement can also be either intra-generational or intergenerational. According to Sorokin in his book, “Social and Cultural Mobility”, he claimed that there is no single society that is only closed (meaning there is no mobility) or entirely open (with a very high rate of mobility). He also said that nations cannot be similar in terms of mobility. In addition to this, the speed at which mobility s taking place in a single nation may differ from one period to another depending on several factors. However, the countries with a high level of mobility are likely to more modernized than those with a low rate of movement (Pujari, 2015). It is important to ascertain that mobility is not always positive as some people may assume. In some cases, mobility and lack of mobility are both stressing. For instance, open society, it means that people will keep changing their social status, adapting to new environments and trying to compete with the people they find in these new surroundings. This may not always bring happiness. It would be argued that the people in a closed society are happier because they always interact in familiar environments without any pressures (Luo, Bisin, & Benhabib, 2015). This is not the case because for a human being to be fulfilled to have morale in what they do, they have to keep changing either their location or status. The examples of mobility include changing occupations thus leading to a change in the status, moving to a higher rank in the same organization or promotion, becoming a senior in the same occupation and lastly changing occupation in terms of generations such as from father to son. Thesis: “In the developed nations, economic inequality is regarded as appropriate for growth and competition. Social mobility and inequality are therefore interconnected. Intergenerational mobility is, therefore, an integral part of social stratification in any society with close connection between parents’ earnings and their children status”. This paper is going to address inter-generational mobility in Australia. This form of mobility may be described as a change of social status in one generation in comparison with the other past generation (Corak, 2013). This form of mobility can either be upward or downward. An example of this is when people who are at a lower social strata educate their children and when they acquire these skills, they tend to acquire better jobs than their parents thus they become better than their parents in terms of the social level. Such mobility is referred to as intergenerational upward mobility. In certain cases, the parents may hold a higher social status but they fail to educate their children, or the children may be unwilling to follow the steps of their parents. In such a case, the children will have a lower social class than their parents. This is referred to as downward intergenerational mobility (Crowell, 2013). In the Australian society, people are always on the move from one social class to another. In the past, a person’s social status was not affected by the parents similar to the United Kingdom. In a society that is perfectly mobile, there is no relationship in terms of statistics between the income of the parents and that of the children. Looking at the elasticity of parents’ earnings over the years, intergenerational mobility has not changed since the 1960s. Intergenerational mobility in Australia is higher that experienced in the United States having an analysis of children born by people in the lower social status. (Papastergiadis, 2010) To analyze intergenerational mobility in Australia, it is important to examine the following factors: • Parents and children are working in distinct occupations. • Parents and children working in similar occupations but earning different incomes. • Parents and children are changing their incomes over a given period. Studies have shown that in Australia, if 10 percent raises a father's income, then the children’s income is to increase by 2 percent. This is because the intergenerational elasticity in this country is 0.2. (Leigh, 2007) Some of the factors that contribute to an increased intergenerational mobility include, reducing the tuition fees in higher learning institutions, elimination of racism and discrimination, improved health care and an increased number of university positions. Reduction of this mobility is caused by strict laws in inheritance, high level of unemployment, and increasing the time taken to start a new job. Sociology Theories and Intergenerational Mobility There are various theories of sociology that are linked to intergenerational mobility. One of the theories is the structural-functionalists theory. This theory states that social inequality is part of human existence, and thus it is inevitable. It also claims that this inequality is advantageous to the society. This is because the inequality boosts peoples’ creativity so that the ones in the lower strata are struggling to reach the top level while the ones at the top are struggling to maintain their social status. This gives rise to a hardworking nation that is beneficial to the overall economy of the country. This inequality also ensures that the people who are qualified for a particular task are the ones employed in these positions. In terms of intergenerational mobility, if one is not qualified to fit in a particular occupation regardless of the social class of the parents, then this person becomes a victim and poor (Boundless, 2015). Conflict theory is another concept of sociology that as opposed to the structural-functionalist theory, it claims that social inequality is not healthy in a society. Conflict theorists claim that stratification creates a rivalry between the rich and the poor because everyone is trying to reach a certain level in the society. In such a situation, the poor people are likely to suffer because they cannot compete with the rich. The people become selfish worrying about how they will defeat others. In such a state, conflict theorists argue that this may lead to hatred and lack of peace in society. They also state that people can avoid inequality by making sure that there is nothing for these people to compete for, and hence they are equal. The weakness of this theory is that it assumes an ideal society that does not exist in the real life. There is no society where the society is composed of one class of people due to different backgrounds, education levels, and leadership classes. This concept, therefore, does not apply to the intergenerational mobility (Lesser, 2000). Factors Influencing Intergenerational Mobility in Australia There are various factors that influence intergenerational mobility in Australia. One of the factors is the education policy. The quality of education has changed highly in Australia. During the 1970s, education was not a major factor in consideration for a person to join a particular occupation. Today education has become an integral part of this society where before one can acquire a certain position, one has to produce education documents. In addition to this, education funding has assisted very many people to be educated meaning that intergenerational mobility is being experienced at a very high rate. Even the poor people are now able to educate their children at the subsidized amounts meaning that the children will be of improved social status (Black & Devereux, 2011). The other factor is the economic trends in Australia. Due to the changes in the education sector, the economic sector has also experienced tremendous changes. This means that people tend to work harder today than 20 years ago because of the various requirements they are expected to fulfill. The children will be more hardworking than their parents due to what is expected of them in the society (Blanden, 2013). Income inequality is another factor that is influencing intergenerational mobility. In some cases, the parents may be at a high level in the social ladder hence they can educate their children. However, due to unemployment and inequality in employment, these children may lack an opportunity to join an occupation that fits their education levels. In such a situation, the children will be struggling to be at the same level with their parents and in most cases their social status will be lower (Tyler, 2011). The other factor is the diversity of the family structure. This diversity is contributed by the increasing campaigns on women education and their role in the labor sector. This means that women in Australia and other countries in the world are now investing in women education and leadership roles. This concept has two dimensions. One, a child may come from a poor background but if she is female, then she is supported by education and leadership skills. This child brings another level of mobility. The second dimension is where a child comes from a rich family but lacks opportunities in the labor market, especially the male children. This means that although the rules of nature allow such a child to be better in the society, other constraints in his environment affect this normality (Krieken et al., 2013). The level of parenting has also influenced intergenerational mobility greatly. As opposed to the past years, parents are now obliged to take care of their children. The children are also protected by the law where they are supposed to enjoy the right to education. Due to this improvement, cases of downward intergenerational mobility are reducing in Australia. The parents are educating their children, and when the society becomes more educated, then the social status of the people changes significantly. Conclusion Following the above discussion, it is correct to conclude that inequality is inevitable in sociology and social class stratification. In Australia, intergenerational mobility is very common which is influenced by various factors as explained above. It has been identified that the parents’ social status will influence the status of their children. This is because that they will be in a position to offer better education and good education reciprocates to a better life. Cases of downward intergenerational mobility are quite rare in this nation, but they can also be noted. In sociology, what matters is positive competition because people can be hard working, they will look for new ways to expand their incomes, and this is beneficial to the economy of the country. References Black, S. E., & Devereux, P. J. (2011). Chapter 16 - Recent Developments in Intergenerational Mobility*. In D. C. and O. Ashenfelter (Ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics (Vol. 4, Part B, pp. 1487–1541). Elsevier. Retrieved from Blanden, J. (2013). Cross-Country Rankings in Intergenerational Mobility: A Comparison of Approaches from Economics and Sociology. Journal of Economic Surveys, 27(1), 38–73. http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6419.2011.00690.x Boundless. (2015). Explaining Poverty: The Sociological Debate. Boundless. Retrieved from https://www.boundless.com/sociology/textbooks/boundless-sociology-textbook/stratification-inequality-and-social-class-in-the-u-s-9/poverty-78/explaining-poverty-the-sociological-debate-464-3314/ Corak, M. (2013). Income Inequality, Equality of Opportunity, and Intergenerational Mobility. The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 27(3), 79–102. Crowell, E.-L. (2013). Social Mobility Definition and Types: Intragenerational vs. Intergenerational & Vertical vs. Horizontal - Video & Lesson Transcript. Retrieved October 2, 2015, from http://study.com/academy/lesson/social-mobility-definition-and-types-intragenerational-vs-intergernerational-vertical-vs-horizontal.html Krieken, R. V., Habibis, D., Smith, P., Hutchins, B., Martin, G., & Maton, K. (2013). Sociology. Pearson Higher Education AU. Leigh Andrew, 2007. Intergenerational Mobility in Australia. The B.E Journal of Economic Analysis and Policy. Vol 7. Australian National University. Lesser, E. L. (2000). Knowledge and Social Capital: Foundations and Applications. Elsevier. Luo, M., Bisin, A., & Benhabib, J. (2015). Wealth Inequality and Social Mobility (2015 Meeting Paper No. 364). Society for Economic Dynamics. Retrieved from http://econpapers.repec.org/paper/redsed015/364.htm Papastergiadis N., 2010. Wars of Mobility. European Journal of Social Justice. The University of Melbourne, Australia. Chap 13. Pujari, S. (2015). Social Mobility: The Meaning, Types and Factors Responsible for Social Mobility. Retrieved from http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/sociology/social-mobility-the-meaning-types-and-factors-responsible-for-social-mobility/8539/ Tyler, W. (2011). The Sociology of Educational Inequality. Routledge.  Read More

 

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