Social Mobility in India

TL;DR

This study investigates the factors influencing social mobility in India, revealing that social background significantly impacts occupation mobility, while education's role appears limited, highlighting persistent intergenerational immobility.

Contribution

It applies an extended RC association model to Indian survey data, emphasizing the dominance of social background over education in occupation mobility.

Findings

Social background strongly influences occupation mobility.

Education has limited impact on mobility.

Intergenerational occupation immobility is prevalent.

Abstract

Rapid rise in income inequality in India is a serious concern. While the emphasis is on inclusive growth, it seems difficult to tackle the problem without looking at the intricacies of the problem. Social mobility is one such important tool which helps in reaching the cause of the problem and focuses on bringing long term equality in the country. The purpose of this study is to examine the role of social background and education attainment in generating occupation mobility in the country. By applying an extended version of the RC association model to 68th round (2011-12) of the Employment and Unemployment Survey by the National Sample Survey Office of India, we found that the role of education is not important in generating occupation mobility in India, while social background plays a critical role in determining one's occupation. This study successfully highlights the strong intergenerational occupation immobility in the country and also the need to focus on education. In this regard, further studies are needed to uncover other crucial factors limiting the growth of individuals in the country.