social mobility

[ soh-shuhl moh-bil-i-tee ]

noun

1. Sociology. the movement of people in a population, as from place to place, from job to job, or from one social class or level to another.

social mobility

1. The ability of individuals or groups to move upward or downward in status based on wealth, occupation, education, or some other social variable.

Notes

American society operates on the principle that an individual's achievements can be rewarded by upward social mobility.

Word History and Origins

Origin of social mobility¹

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

Even as Mr. Prescott became a symbol of social mobility and a mascot of “Old Labour,” he was on board with the project of modernization and of finding “traditional values in a modern setting” as he would put it.

From New York Times

Shadow housing secretary Kevin Hollinrake accused the government of "pulling up the drawbridge on home ownership and limiting aspiration and social mobility".

From BBC

Housing Secretary Angela Rayner said its changes will address the loss of social housing, but the Conservatives said Labour is "limiting aspiration and social mobility".

From BBC

Shanley Breese, a law student who founded the Scottish Social Mobility Society, said that when she arrived at the university she had never heard of private schools.

From BBC

The guidance was issued after the newly-formed Scottish Social Mobility Society complained lecturers and students regularly mocked and mimicked individuals from north of the border.

From BBC