In the last decades, globalization and technological advancements have improved the living standards of billions of people, and enabled many households to cross the poverty line. Nonetheless, these trends have also exacerbated inequalities around the world, raising a renewed interest in questions pertaining to social mobility.
Social mobility designates the movement of individuals or families to a better socioeconomic position, and it is considered to be the hope of economic development. However, this phenomenon has been understudied in developing countries leading to a real knowledge gap concerning social mobility in these regions.
GlobalDev now partners with UNU-WIDER to invite you to write a blog about social mobility. You are invited to write 800 words with a focus on any of the following key questions (the list is indicative and not exhaustive):
- What do we know about social mobility in income, education, and occupation in developing countries? To what extent can we trust the evidence, and what else is missing?
- What are the data constraints for understanding social mobility in developing countries? Given the data constraints, are their alternate ways we can learn more? Going forward, what data should governments, national data agencies, funders, and researchers collect for us to understand mobility better?
- Has social mobility among disadvantaged groups (by race, caste, ethnicity, gender) within developing countries improved over the years?
- What policies can help improve social mobility in education, occupation, and income? What evidence do we have that these policies work?
- How strong is the role of the mother’s characteristics in the mobility of daughters and sons?
Please read our one pager and style guide before writing and send us your article at editors.globaldevblog@gdn.int.
GlobalDev looks for accessible contributions that make use of existing research to throw light on some of the most urgent policy challenges facing the world today. We do not publish extended abstracts of single research publications, or highly technical content. You are welcome to hyperlink as many research sources as you like in the text.
This blog series is organized in partnership with UNU- WIDER. Rahul Lahoti, Research Associate at UNU-WIDER, and Timothy Shipp, Communications Associate at UNU-WIDER will join the editorial panel as GlobalDev guest editors for this series.
