1. Intergenerational Mobility
2. Structural Mobility
3. Exchange Mobility

• the change that family members make in social class from one generation to the next
• Upward social mobility is when a child moves up the socail ladder compared to their parents
– Father (high school graduate) is used car dealer, son
(college graduate) owns a GM dealership
• Downward social mobility is when a child moves down the social ladder compared to their parents

• Movement up or down the social ladder that is due to changes in the structure of society, not to individual efforts
• Example of when computers were invented
• Large amounts of people began training on computers for repair work, computer programming and teaching computers
• People went from blue collar to white collar jobs

• Great Depression hit, opportunities disappeared and millions of people went down the ladder
• The change in the ladder is based less upon individual behavior than structural changes in society

• When large amounts of people move up or down the social ladder but on a type of balance.
• Proportions of the social class stay about the same
• Example: High demand for new computers means new jobs for computer people (white collar)
• Same time, higher demand for imports on the computers means skilled workers take lower status jobs (people change their social status)

• Long period of time, sociologists would not look at women compared to their mother
• Women were seen with no class position (assigned wives the class with their husbands)
• About half of sons pass their fathers on the social scale
• 1/3 stay the same level
• 1/6 fell below their father

• With more women working for pay, studies began to change
• Sociologists found that women’s parents advised them to get an education and a career before marriage
• Proves family is important in socialization process
• Without structural mobility in society, women would not have these new jobs

• U.S. is known for its intergenerational mobility
• Children who are born to the poorest Americans,
1/3 stay in that position, half end up even poorer
• Children who are born in to the richest Americans,
1/3 stay in that position, 2/5 end up even richer
• High income parents keep their children afloat, while low income parents weigh their children down

• Climbing the social ladder brings pain
• People who move up the ladder struggle with the different worlds
• Women who came from a working class, now in the middle class life have trouble dealing with the taste they grew up with
• Better furniture, cars, vacations , etc…
• Parents become distant to their children