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Social mobility and parenting: Testing associations in a prospective longitudinal cohort study
Samiha Islam1, Sara R Jaffee1, Jay Belsky2
1Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States.
Child Development
|February 20, 2026
Summary
Parental social mobility impacts parent-child interactions. Upwardly mobile parents showed different parenting styles compared to stable low or high socioeconomic groups, highlighting the need for intergenerational support.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Psychology
- Sociology
- Family Studies
Background:
- Parental socioeconomic status (SES) can influence child development.
- Social mobility, the change in SES across generations, may also affect parenting.
- Longitudinal data allows for examination of these complex interrelationships.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between parents' social mobility and their parenting behaviors.
- To compare parent-child interactions across different social mobility trajectories.
- To determine if pre-existing factors explain observed differences in parenting.
Main Methods:
- Utilized data from 719 participants in the Dunedin Parenting Study, followed from birth to midlife.
- Assessed parenting behaviors, including sensitive parenting and cognitive stimulation, with participants' 3-year-old children.
- Compared parenting practices between upwardly mobile parents and those with stable low or high SES.
Main Results:
- Upwardly mobile parents exhibited more sensitive and cognitively stimulating parenting than stable low-SES parents.
- However, upwardly mobile parents provided less sensitive and cognitively stimulating environments than stable high-SES parents.
- These parenting differences were not entirely explained by pre-existing parental characteristics.
Conclusions:
- Parental social mobility is linked to variations in parent-child interaction quality.
- Interventions should consider a life-course, intergenerational approach to support families with fewer socioeconomic resources.
- Understanding the impact of social mobility on parenting is crucial for promoting positive child development outcomes.
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