Growing into poverty? Social Mobility and Child Poverty in Welfare States

Abstract: Intergenerational social mobility represents the ability of individuals to reach their full potential, regardless of the circumstances of their birth. But what factors influence the social mobility in a society? This study takes a comprehensive look at the role of child poverty. Through a cross-country statistical analysis it is shown that states with a high rate of child poverty have lower social mobility. Further on it is established that social policy, represented through the concept of decommodification, has an important impact on the incidence of child poverty in countries. However, methodological considerations present challenges and the causality of the result remains in doubt. The theoretical framework, consisting of Esping-Andersen’s welfare regimes, provides useful insights concerning the international variance of child poverty. But it fails to explain the result in the statistical analysis concerning the relationship between social mobility and decommodification, which is shown to be statistically insignificant. It is concluded that further research is needed in order to confirm, and understand, the role social policy play in the formation of social mobility in a society.