Moving down the social ladder: analysing the relationship between status and regional inequality in the UK

Summary

This paper analyses how inequality affects individuals' relative socio-economic status (SES) within regions in the UK. We introduce new evidence using the British Household Panel Survey for testing the status–inequality nexus by building regional inequality indices from microdata. Regional inequality has a dual effect on social mobility: on the one hand, in more dynamic regions, such as London and East Anglia, individuals with a higher SES are less likely to move down the social ladder. On the other hand, in less dynamic regions such as Wales, income inequality might translate into inequality in terms of job opportunities and career prospects; in this case, individuals with a higher social status are likely to step down while people with a lower social status might experience a social class trap.