Abstract
BackgroundIt has been suggested that social, educational, cultural and physical factors in childhood and early adulthood may influence the chances and direction of social mobility, the movement of an individual between social classes over his/her life-course. This study examined the association of such factors with intra-generational and inter-generational social mobility within the Newcastle Thousand Families 1947 birth cohort.MethodsMultivariable logistic regression was used to examine the potential association of sex, housing conditions at age 5 years, childhood IQ, achieved education level, adult height and adverse events in early childhood with upward and downward social mobility.ResultsChildhood IQ and achieved education level were significantly and independently associated with upward mobility between the ages of 5 and 49-51 years. Only education was significantly associated (positively) with upward social mobility between 5 and 25 years, and only childhood IQ (again positively) with upward social mobility between 25 and 49-51 years. Childhood IQ was significantly negatively associated with downward social mobility. Adult height, childhood housing conditions, adverse events in childhood and sex were not significant determinants of upward or downward social mobility in this cohort.ConclusionsAs upward social mobility has been associated with better health as well as more general benefits to society, supportive measures to improve childhood circumstances that could result in increased IQ and educational attainment may have long-term population health and wellbeing benefits.
Highlights
It has been suggested that social, educational, cultural and physical factors in childhood and early adulthood may influence the chances and direction of social mobility, the movement of an individual between social classes over his/her life-course
If upward social mobility can improve health and general wellbeing this could have important policy implications, with resources targeted to help people move up the social scale or to design health promotion strategies tailored towards those groups which are immobile at the bottom
There was no significant difference in terms of social class at age 5 years between those included in this study and the remainder of the cohort (p = 0.45)
Summary
It has been suggested that social, educational, cultural and physical factors in childhood and early adulthood may influence the chances and direction of social mobility, the movement of an individual between social classes over his/her life-course. It has been suggested that social, educational, material, cultural and physical factors in childhood and early adulthood may influence the chances and direction of social mobility [9]. Other factors postulated to influence, or act as barriers to, social mobility include childhood cognition [12], achieved adult height [3,9,12], number of siblings (as a measure of material circumstances in the family) [9,12] and changes in economic conditions [13]. This study investigated factors in early life, childhood and early adulthood that may be drivers of, and barriers to, intra-generational and inter-generational social mobility within the Newcastle Thousand Families 1947 birth cohort
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
