The Intergenerational Social Mobility of Young Political Activists

Abstract

This article analyzes the intergenerational social mobility of young political activists. The research is based on the results of the questionnaire survey conducted in 2013 among the participants of the All-Russian Youth Forum “Seliger-2013» (N = 447). It was found that the social status of the respondent is determined by the social status of respondent’s family. The level of social mobility among young politicians is 14.6% higher than the average among the youth. Young people on average are more prone to inherit the social status of their parents than young politicians. The upward social mobility possibility is 12% higher than the average among the youth. The intensity of intergenerational upward social mobility among young politicians is 2.1 points. At the same time among young people the meaning of this indicator is on average — 1.7. The intensity of downward social mobility among young activists equals (1.9), whereas Youth middleweight equals (-2). Maximum social progress for young people in Russia is 5 steps above the level of social status of the family. Among the young politicians, the value is 7 steps. The maximum value (9 steps) was not found in either group. The results show that “there are no miracles,” and although there is a variety of social elevators, it is very difficult to break out to the upper stratum of society, if one’s family belongs to the lowest level of society. The significant factor in evaluation of intergenerational social mobility of young political activists is the parents’ education. The conditions of parents’ socialization did not have a significant impact on the level of social mobility of young workers. Another significant factor in the horizontal intergenerational social mobility is father’s higher education, but it has negative impact: it reduces the likelihood of horizontal movement. At the same time, the mother’s education does not play a significant role in the horizontal mobility of young people.