Recent development of social mobility and the dynamics of poverty risks in Germany (Follow-up study on Poverty and Wealth Reporting)

Social mobility is an essential element of open societies. A high level of social mobility indicates equity of opportunities with respect to socio-economic positions. Against this background, the project is devoted to the causes as well as the risk and success factors of social mobility. The focus is on income poverty and living conditions of material deprivation.

Previous research results show that poverty arises mainly due to a lack of employment, which in turn is caused by a low level of education and training. Therefore, a first step of the analysis concerns transitions within the education system as well as from education and training to work. Following individuals in their life courses, the project will examine poverty transitions in adult life and their determinants. A separate project module deals with the poverty in households with children. These studies are complemented by an analysis of intergenerational mobility, i.e. the extent to which one’s own socio-economic status is independent from that of one’s parents.

The analysis of the different steps uses high quality longitudinal data, such as the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS), the panel labor market and Social Security (PASS) and the BIBB Transition Study 2011. The project was commissioned by the BMAS as a preparatory study for the 5th Poverty and Wealth Report of the Federal Government.

Final Report (in German)