1. Social Mobility
CH: 8 Section 5

2. What is Social Mobility?
It is the movement of individuals or groups between classes

3. Types of Mobility
Horizontal Mobility: change in occupation within the same social class
EX: Work at Wal-Mart, then get a new job at Carson’s

4. Types of Mobility (Cont.)
Vertical Mobility: change upward or downward in occupation status or social class
EX: Janitor to Regional Manager of Sanitation

5. Types of Mobility (Cont.)
Intergenerational Mobility: Change in status or class from one generation to another
EX: Your parents were from lower class, then you become a CEO

6. Caste System
Is a stratification system that does not allow for social mobility
Is based on ascribed status
Seen in parts of India.
Middle Ages

7. Caste System (Cont.) How is this system kept in place?
Traditional Rules are used:
People cannot eat with someone from a different class
Dating outside your class is looked down upon
Higher class uses their power to keep others from moving up

8. Upward Mobility
U.S. is one of few countries that have opportunities for upward mobility
“rags to riches”
Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, Lincoln

9. Upward Mobility (Cont.)
After WWII, many Americans experienced upward mobility
Those individuals believed it would be the same for their children
But we see this reversing

10. Why the Downward Mobility?
Technology
Outsourcing
Will this downward trend continue?

11. RICH PEOPLE
According to Forbes Magazine:
Warren Buffett
3. Bill Gates