5.6 ¿Qué es la movilidad social?

Inequality and social mobility—what is social mobility? Let's imagine a staircase. Imagine a staircase where, when dawn breaks, when we wake up, we are at the bottom of the staircase. As the day progresses, we climb one step at a time, advancing until we reach the top. Social mobility can be understood more or less like this.

The lack of social mobility in Mexico indicates that, again, we take our girl born in the mountains of Guerrero, with all the disadvantages we described at the beginning. This girl will wake up at the bottom of the staircase, while the boy born in the hills will wake up at the top. That in itself is worrying, but

in a way, neither of them chose where they ended up. The biggest problem in a society like Mexico is that, regardless of their efforts, how much they work, how much they strive, or how much they study, it is very likely that the boy will end the day at the top of the staircase

and the girl at the bottom, regardless of her effort. Climbing those rungs, regardless of how much you study, how hard you work, your natural talent, and the decisions you make, offers very few options. The rungs are too far apart, too slippery, and often don't even exist. What can we understand as these rungs? These rungs are

often public policy options, the education someone receives, employment opportunities, the contacts and networks they participate in, and the nutritional opportunities each of us has depending on where we live and where we are born. Fundamentally, what's happening in this country is that the rungs to climb don't exist, and the rungs to descend don't either.

Regardless of the decisions you make, if you were born on the top rung of a ladder, it's very likely you'll end up there. This indicates, fundamentally, that we live in a very rigid society where effort, merit, work, and desire are not rewarded, and where there is no public investment or policy decision-making to