One in 5 people experience downward mobility in their lives, with some moving into a vicious cycle of low pay and low self-esteem, a new Social Mobility Commission report has found.
The research carried out for the Commission by Ipsos MORI shows how unfairly that downward movement is shared. Women, notably with children, and non-graduates are more likely to move down than others.
But so are children of front-line workers and those from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds, particularly those born outside the UK.
While most policy experts look at ways of helping people move up occupational groups to become more socially mobile, many ignore the fact that to do so others have to move down.
In the post-war decades there was room at the top following a mushrooming of professional and managerial jobs. But this is no longer the case and progress is stagnant. Those from professional classes at the top often hang on to their jobs, through networking and help from their parents. While others, whose parents may have struggled to get into high status jobs, have shifted down.
The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has already made us re-evaluate and give higher recognition to key workers such as nurses, porters, cleaners and shop workers and the Commission believes they should also be better rewarded. The Commission calls for a new debate to ensure fairer recognition for a broader range of occupations.
The report Changing gears: understanding downward mobility, is the first to look in depth at the reasons behind downward mobility and the impact it has. It defines those who are downwardly mobile as those who have dropped at least one occupational class below their parents. It also looks at the difference between voluntary and involuntary downward mobility.
The first reason, by choice, could be to improve work life balance or explore a more interesting career. However, others are forced to move down because they don’t have the right qualifications, they lose their jobs, or their circumstances change.
This in-depth qualitative research looks at the impact on both these groups. Some felt content to shift down a gear. Others felt undervalued and had lost their sense of purpose.
Steven Cooper, interim co-chair of the Social Mobility Commission said:
Downward mobility can be an acute struggle for many and there has never been a more important time to recognise this. The pandemic has highlighted the essential role played by nurses, porters, supermarket workers and carers. These workers have always been underpaid and often undervalued. Together, we need to start recognising and rewarding them more fairly.
