Social Mobility and Disability: A Neglected Relationship

Abstract

Disability theorists have long highlighted the role of institutional, social, and environmental barriers in constructing disability, emphasizing its parallels with other socially constructed axes of stratification. However, despite theoretical developments towards more sociological understandings of disability, mainstream accounts of social inequality have largely neglected disability as a social division. This research note aims to encourage social stratification and life-course research on disability by demonstrating overlooked inequalities between disabled and non-disabled young people’s social mobility and early adulthood destinations. Drawing on data from the Next Steps cohort study, our visualizations shed light on stark disability differentials, highlighting the association of disability status with parental social class in influencing young people’s early adulthood transitions. We proceed to outline future avenues for data collection and research that can contribute to a better understanding of the mechanisms behind these inequalities