So, if we trust this hypothesis, it would be necessary to reduce inequalities as a way of guaranteeing greater social mobility… But how do we fight inequality?
This is a very difficult question to resolve. But in any event, it depends on politicians.
Economic inequality has also increased in Sweden in the last ten years, but we have very high taxes and a very effective social transfers system, particularly aimed at people on the lowest rung of income distribution. And in some way and to some degree this compensates for the inequalities.
These decisions are strictly political. But they entail great complexity, because economists claim that these social policies, in the long term, are harmful for the economy. It is a key question and one much debated: does economic growth fall when income inequality is lower? The answer is not clear.
Advanced societies have experienced in-depth transformation in recent decades. One of these major changes is the massive expansion of education. Shouldn’t this favour social mobility?
The main reason behind inequality is lack of employment. Therefore it is fundamental to try to ensure that people have jobs. Ensuring that the larger part of the population can have access to a sound education is a good way of achieving this, obviously.
But with this I am not only referring to people going to university. Vocational training is very important for securing a good job. Qualified skilled workers have good earnings, at least in Sweden, and I suppose that the same thing happens in Spain.
There is a generation of Spaniards who have fought very hard to ensure that their children go to university. They consider it a success, a goal achieved, because many of them never had the chance themselves. And it is difficult for them to understand that there are no employment opportunities for their university-educated children, or that their children earn less money than they did...
Of course, it’s logical. The education system has to respond to a certain extent to the needs of the labour market. I believe that the university should include much more vocational training.
But in any case, it doesn’t make much sense for a high percentage of young people to have university qualifications when the majority of jobs do not require them to be graduates, that is, they to some extent compete with those with less education who then have more difficulties in getting a job. I get the impression that this may be the case in Spain.
It is: over half of young Spanish people go to university, but fewer than 20% of jobs require graduates...
Then it’s a problem, of course.
Although on the other hand, as a university professor, I think that it is important to see higher education as something more than a phase of preparation for the labour market. There are other benefits associated with a university education that have an impact on people’s lives. On a sociological level, people with a university education live longer, enjoy better health, and generally have better working conditions.
Additionally, they usually have a more complete perspective on the world: they are more aware that individual and global actions have causes and effects; they know that it is not only fate that decides their own future and that of the world, etc.
In other questions, however, Spain is at the same level as the more advanced countries. We have one of the best public health systems in the world. What other things can we do to fight against inequality?
Of course. And that is also very important in relation to social mobility.
In terms of inequality, the most important thing is that everyone has access to the labour market, but social policies are also fundamental in relation to health and education issues. Going to the doctor should not mean a great expense for families. There are some countries, such as Sweden, that are trying to combat inequality by allocating a lot of money to social programmes. But that is not the only way of doing it: having essential public services that are efficient and affordable or even free, as is the case of the Spanish health system, also helps to reduce inequalities; making education high quality and affordable is another path towards promoting equal opportunities.
It seems that children from privileged social classes are well protected against downward social mobility. Could you explain to us why? What are the specific mechanisms through which these social classes transmit their advantage?
In general, parents from the privileged classes use their greater resources in terms of money and knowledge of the education system to the advantage of their children, in particular to protect them from sliding down the social hierarchy. Being well connected can sometimes turn out to be essential.
In a context of intense educational competition, the short cuts enabled by these “alternative routes” – to obtain a good job with relatively small educational qualifications – will be important to remain in the advantaged class.