Precursors to Social Mobility among Low- and Moderate-Income Families

• In Event: 589 - Regular Session. The Experience of Social Mobility

Abstract

A key American belief is that, through hard work, individuals can improve their social status and live the American Dream. In this study, we identify key factors that facilitate and limit working families’ ability to engage in social mobility activities, defined as homeownership, developing concrete plans to buy a house, and moving to a better neighborhood. We use in-depth qualitative interviews of 194 low- and moderate-income families that received above $1,000 of Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) to illuminate individual- and structural-level processes that serve as precursors to social mobility. We also shed light on the decision-making process families engage in when deciding how to achieve social mobility. We find that both structural factors (e.g., low-interest mortgages) and social factors (e.g., support from family and friends and access to good neighborhoods) facilitate social mobility. Barriers to social mobility are mostly related to financial shocks (e.g., house repair, medical bills) that limit social mobility of families’ who already stretch their resources. Our examination of these social mobility processes is situated during the housing crisis and Great Recession and we discuss the implications of these social forces on U.S. class stratification reproduction for working families over time.

Authors

• Ruby Mendenhall, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• Ilana Redstone Akresh, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• Karen Z. Kramer, University of Illinois