Social Mobility and ME

So there are two kinds of social mobility.

1. Intergenerational

2. Intragenerational

I got to thinking about my own position. In the past my families were humble farmers. My great grandfathers worked the land as well as additional work to support the family. As far as I know my one great grandfather worked on Canadian Rails and was involved in the Great War. My grandfathers were both farmers. The one had training in air mechanics for the Second World War while the other enrolled in the army. After the war they both returned to farming. One also worked odd jobs and drove the school bus.

My parents made the traditional nuclear family picture. My mom started out going through hair school, met a nice Christian man with a stable job. Dad had been working as a gas plant operator for a number of years before they met. They built their brick house on a hill and started their family of three. Kids were involved in sports, dance and music in their small farm community. Grandparents lived no more than an hour away and eventually got closer and closer. Mom went back to work just to keep herself busy once the kids were old enough to be left alone at home after school.

Then there was me. I am the youngest of us three. My oldest brother has had experience in several vocational domains but nothing overly steady. The middle child is a successful welder who will potentially be able to retire by the time he is 40. And I went on to post secondary education. A 5 year combined degree for French education.

I think there has been an intergenerational mobility. My grandparents and great grandparents would have been lower working class. They had to work extremely hard to make ends meet. They had strong community ties to ensure survival among neighbors. My mom married a stable successful middle class man that made a spot for himself on moving up the ladder. At present I believe he is the highest paid operator at the company because he has the highest superiority, time-wise. My dad worked his way up by staying with what he knew was going to support his family in a middle class situation. I would even venture to say he is upper middle class. He was able to keep farming just as a hobby and still allow his kids to follow their own dreams and support them as they needed it.

As for myself, I am lower class right now because I live below the poverty line. I live off of scholarships, a few months work in the summer and credit. However, once I am graduated and sign a contract I will become middle class. If I start at $57-59 000/year I would say I will be doing pretty good. I don't think I will climb any higher than where my parents are presently though. Perhaps my children will? Maybe its a trend of every other generation? We will see.