Taking advantage: informal social mechanisms and equal opportunities policies

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine how factors including class position, education, social network membership and cultural capital contribute to the intergenerational transmission of class advantage for women and men in different European welfare states.Design/methodology/approachThe paper analyses the European Social Survey round 1 data.FindingsEducation is the dominant institutional mechanism for reproduction of privilege, but social network membership plays an important subsidiary role. The contribution of membership is highly gendered, even in the overtly more open social democratic and liberal societies.Research limitations/implicationsThere were data limitations in ESS: no time‐series data, and no data on wealth.Practical implicationsThe findings are of particular policy relevance at a time when reform programmes are stressing individual opportunity and shifting responsibility from state to citizen, so that informal pathways to the reproduction of privilege become more significant. These include network membership, contacts and cultural capital.Social implicationsThe research indicates the importance of social network membership and sheds light on how this works to the advantage of middle and upper class groups and men in different European countries.Originality/valueNo other studies have used these data to explore these issues to the author's knowledge, and one needs to understand more about these issues in the context of current concerns about inequality and opportunity.