Not just down to individuals

摘要

Some important misunderstandings about social mobility risk defeating the object of policies to promote it.1 The most important misunderstanding is that social mobility depends on the person. But for someone to move into a more advantaged social situation, there must be a place for her or him to move to. When the number of well paid, skilled jobs is limited no amount of intelligence ordetermination will be sufficient to guarantee a position.A second misapprehension is that people must be highly educated to move into more favourable occupations. After the second world warthe number of new professional, managerial, and technical jobs (many in the new welfare state) exploded.