People who climb the social hierarchy

Question

We know that people on top of the social hierarchy have (at least in developed countries) 30 or more years average life expectancy , more stable marriages, happier life and so on. So my question is for people who managed to get from the bottom to the top, what is their expected divorce rate, life expectancy and so on. It is more like the bottom or more like the top. Any research would help.

Answer 1

I think you want the term Life Course Social Mobility. Try searching for it and the outcomes of interest, e.g., life expectancy:

• Climbing the social mobility ladder: where does health fit in? on "The Health Foundation" blog by Hannah Jones.

  [The UK] Social Mobility Commission also touched upon the idea that health and wellbeing play a role in an individual’s social circumstances and, thus, their mobility. For example, the report concluded that those in social housing are less likely to find employment as they are more likely to have a mental health condition, disability or other health condition.

• Heller, R. F., McElduff, P., & Edwards, R. (2002). Impact of upward social mobility on population mortality: analysis with routine data. Bmj, 325(7356), 134.

  16% of the reduction in deaths between 1970–2 and 1991–3 among men in England and Wales was attributable to increases in the proportion of men in higher social classes

It is difficult to summarize across many different outcomes, and it also depends on a) the starting and ending classes as well as b) the life stage when the transition occurs and c) the speed of the transition.

So I think the question as originally phrased, whether they appear more like the bottom or the top, cannot be answered in the general case. It is generally going to be in-between.