India ranks low at 76 on social mobility index

Davos, January 20

India has been ranked very low at 76th place out of 82 countries on a new social mobility index compiled by the World Economic Forum, while Denmark has topped the charts.

The report, released ahead of the 50th annual meeting of the WEF, also lists India among the five countries that stand to gain the most from a better social mobility score that seeks to measure parameters necessary for creating societies where every person has the same opportunity to fulfil his potential in life irrespective of socioeconomic background.

Increasing social mobility, a key driver of income inequality, by 10 per cent would benefit social cohesion and boost the world’s economies by nearly 5 per cent by 2030, the WEF said.

But, few economies have the right conditions to foster social mobility. Measuring countries across five key dimensions distributed over 10 pillars shows that fair wages, social protection and lifelong learning are the biggest drags on social mobility globally. In case of India, it ranks 76th out of 82 economies. It ranks 41st in lifelong learning and 53rd in working conditions. — PTI