Social inequalities are still very present in our country. As proof, an INSEE study reveals that children from wealthy families are three times more likely to be among the richest 20% than those from low-income families.
Although they have been reduced in recent decades, social inequalities remain strong in our country and are reproduced from generation to generation. This emerges from a study carried out by INSEE and published on May 18 which directly linked the income of parents with that of their 28-year-old children, in order to determine intergenerational income mobility.
Unequal opportunities?
The results are final. Once in professional life,Children from well-to-do families are three times more likely to be among the top 20% than those from low-income families: inequalities are therefore partly reproduced from one generation to another“, indeed reveals the study which specifies that the better the parents are classified in the income scale, the better their children are also on average compared to the young adults of their generation. The study also reveals that men have a higher probability than women of moving up the social ladder, as are children from families with income from assets.
Greater mobility among children in Ile-de-France
Mobility also varies according to the region in which the children live when they come of age. Thus, children living in Ile-de-France are more likely to progress socially than children who grew up in Hauts-de-France and Normandy. The children of immigrants also experience contrasting social mobility: if on average they have a higher probability of achieving upward mobility -especially if they live in a large city-, they also have a higher probability of remaining in lowest fifth of income. Another observation revealed by the study, among the descendants of immigrants, the children whose parent with the highest income was born in Asia have the highest probability of upward mobility.
Another determinant: the level of education of the parents
Mobility varies greatly depending on the diploma of the parent with the highest income: the probability of progressing up the social scale is 17% for children of higher education graduates and holders of the baccalaureate, 11% for those of parents holding diplomas below the baccalaureate and 10% for those of parents without diplomas. Finally, the INSEE study explains that only 30% of variations in income between young people of the same age group are linked to family background, the rest being linked to other factors.