Exploring the family as a socialising agent in intergenerational mobility in an emerging market

Abstract

The concept of intergenerational mobility refers to the social and economic movement between generations. Essentially it looks at the role of the family in determining the future of their offspring. There are external and internal factors that need to be taken into account when predicting mobility. The endogenous aspects refer to inherited and genetic factors, commonly referred to as nature. The exogenous factors are the environmental factors that are outside the ambit of your control. This is popularly called nurture. Examples of external factors are for instance the parents that you have been born to or your race. Unequal opportunities are responsible for low levels of mobility, particularly at the lower income levels. This study aimed to explore the role of the nuclear and extended family in black South African communities, in enabling intergenerational mobility, in an emerging market context. The results show that the nuclear family has a critical role to play in assisting the offspring in becoming mobile. The extended family however is critical and has a key supporting role in the South African context.