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Social mobility, education and populism

Author

Listed:
  • Perelman, Sergio

    (Université de Liège)

  • Pestieau, Pierre

    (Université catholique de Louvain, LIDAM/CORE, Belgium)

  • Racionero, Maria

Abstract

In this article, we show that the populist attitudes that lead to extremists voting and social unrests can be explained by the breakdown of the social elevator, i.e. the decline in social mobility. This explanation seems to apply to all the 27 European countries studied. It is particularly surprising in countries like Belgium and France, which devote around 30% of their GDP to social protection. It would seem that these welfare states naively believed that simply combating poverty and social inequality was enough to revive the social elevator. This does not seem to be the case.

Suggested Citation

  • Perelman, Sergio & Pestieau, Pierre & Racionero, Maria, 2023. "Social mobility, education and populism," LIDAM Discussion Papers CORE 2023026, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    • Handle: RePEc:cor:louvco:2023026
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    5. Helmuth Cremer & Philippe Donder & Pierre Pestieau, 2010. "Education and social mobility," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 17(4), pages 357-377, August.
    6. García-Peñalosa, Cecilia & Petit, Fabien & van Ypersele, Tanguy, 2023. "Can workers still climb the social ladder as middling jobs become scarce? Evidence from two British cohorts," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
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    8. Perelman, Sergio & Pestieau, Pierre, 2023. "Social mobility and populist values," LIDAM Discussion Papers CORE 2023014, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    9. Pestieau, Pierre & Racionero, Maria, 2023. "Education, mobility and redistribution," LIDAM Discussion Papers CORE 2023024, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Populism ; social mobility ; education policy ; Gatsby curve;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H20 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - General
    • H31 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - Household
    • H50 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - General

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