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Social mobility

Social mobility describes the movement in an individual’s socioeconomic circumstance and social status. Inter-generation mobility refers to the change in an individual’s socioeconomic circumstance and social status in comparison to their parents’, whilst intra-generational mobility is the change in socioeconomic circumstance and social status over the course of an individual’s life. Social mobility can be described as being upward, when socioeconomic circumstances improve, or downward, if circumstances worsen.