social mobility

American  

[soh-shuhl moh-bil-i-tee] / ˈsoʊ ʃəl moʊˈbɪl ɪ ti /

noun

1. Sociology. the movement of people in a population, as from place to place, from job to job, or from one social class or level to another.

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social mobility Cultural  

1. The ability of individuals or groups to move upward or downward in status based on wealth, occupation, education, or some other social variable.

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American society operates on the principle that an individual's achievements can be rewarded by upward social mobility.

Etymology

Origin of social mobility

First recorded in 1925–30

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

social mobility

The government is to scrap its advisory body on social mobility, with a new "class unit" charged with improving life opportunities for poorer people.

From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026

Increasingly, this debate has spread to the U.K., where traditionally class, not race, has proved the main barrier to social mobility.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026

"And this desire to move is not just physical mobility," it is also "a kind of drive toward economic mobility and above all social mobility," he said.

From Barron's ● Jun. 27, 2026

Likewise, Lisa Kibutu, a Kenya Fashion Council board member, says many jobs involving mitumba are "hand-to-mouth" roles that do not allow for growth and social mobility.

From BBC ● May 23, 2026

The original exemplar of American social mobility was almost certainly Benjamin Franklin, one of seventeen children of a candle maker.

From "Class Matters" by The New York Times

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