Does it matter where you’re from? Geographical variation in social mobility in Britain
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 7772022 |
|---|---|
| Authors | R Breen (0000-0002-9718-0743, Nuffield College, University of Oxford , New Road, Oxford OX1 1NF, corresponding author), J In (0000-0001-5439-6096, University of Copenhagen) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 41 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 487-499 |
| Publication date | 2025-08-11 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | European Sociological Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0266-7215 • E-ISSN: 1468-2672 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1093/esr/jcae046 |
| OpenAlex | W4405409754 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 31 |
There is increasing interest among sociologists in geographical, or regional, variation in intergenerational mobility. The most important questions in studying this topic are, first, whether, and how much, variation there is between regions, and to what extent this is due to characteristics of places themselves, and how far to sorting or compositional differences—that is, to the spatial distribution of relevant individual and family variables. We analyse regional variation in social mobility in Great Britain, first asking whether there are differences in occupational attainment and intergenerational social mobility according to where a person was raised, and then asking whether these differences persist or disappear when we control for individual family factors that are known to influence social mobility. We also discuss some methodological problems that arise in trying to answer these questions: these have largely been neglected in the burgeoning literature on this topic. Overall, we find little evidence for any substantial effects of place of origin on social mobility in Britain once we take account of sorting
Demographic economics · Economic geography · Economics · Geography · Physics · Social mobility · Social science · Sociology · Variation (astronomy) · Demography · Health disparities and outcomes · Intergenerational and Educational Inequality Studies · Urban, Neighborhood, and Segregation Studies
The constant flux
The Truly Disadvantaged
The Impacts of Neighborhoods on Intergenerational Mobility II
Where is the land of Opportunity? The Geography of Intergenerational Mobility in the United States
The Impacts of Neighborhoods on Intergenerational Mobility I
Linking spatial and social mobility
Intergenerational mobility in Sweden
Migration and Social Mobility
Correlating Social Mobility and Economic Outcomes
The Canadian Geography of Intergenerational Income Mobility
Regional variation in intergenerational social mobility in Britain
Paradoxes of social mobility in London
Spatial and social mobility in England and Wales
Urban Escalators and Interregional Elevators
When Work Disappears
The Secret Garden? Elite Metropolitan Geographies in the Contemporary UK
Is the National State the Appropriate Geographical Unit for Class Analysis
Assessing 'Neighborhood Effects
Crowding Out of Disadvantaged Young Adults in Germany
Where Deso Disappears
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |