The Interplay of Economic Inequality and Social Mobility: A Socioeconomic Perspective on Class Stratification

Abstract

Economic inequality and mobility are two significant factors that play greater roles in the socioeconomic regard and development. This paper aims at comparing the relationship and connection between wealth distribution and social-economic mobility with I examining how disparity affects an individual’s chances of climbing the ladder. To conduct this study, quantitative research design was used and data was collected from secondary sources such as global economic bulletins and national socioeconomic questionnaires employing statistical analyses such as regression analysis and correlation tests. Recent studies also state that various inequality measures are negatively associated with intergenerational mobility, and in particular, the Gini coefficient is negatively related to it. It was established that education and labor market were the factors that influenced mobility, nevertheless, there were many barriers like wages that have remained stagnant and qualitative education that lacked equality. Due to this, policies such as wealth whose operation is based on income redistribution, education that aims at offering equal opportunity to children from different background, and better qualified labor market to enhance equal opportunity in flow of income are necessary. These observations can be helpful in enriching the knowledge on class differentiation and prove informative for any policy that is implemented in the future to encourage a fair division of the society.