Pakistan performs poorly on Social Mobility Index 2020

• Pakistan managed to score only 36.7 points on the index, with only three countries performing below Pakistan.
• Pakistan's performance was dismal on all indicators including Health, Education, Technology, Work and Resilience & Institutions.

Pakistan performed poorly when it comes to social mobility, after a report published by the World Economic Forum (WEF) placed Pakistan at 79th place out of 82 countries on its ‘Global Social Mobility Index 2020 rankings.’

As per WEF latest report titled, The Global Social Mobility Report 2020 Equality, Opportunity and a New Economic Imperative, Pakistan managed to score only 36.7 points on the index, with only three countries sitting below Pakistan namely: Cameroon, Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire with 36.0, 36.0 and 34.5 points, respectively.

“Social mobility can be understood as the movement in personal circumstances either ‘upwards’ or ‘downwards’ of an individual in relation to those of their parents. In absolute terms, it is the ability of a child to experience a better life than their parents. On the other hand, relative social mobility is an assessment of the impact of socio-economic background on an individual’s outcomes in life,” states WEF.

Meanwhile, Scandinavian countries emerged as best performers. Denmark tops the rankings with a social mobility score of 85.2, closely followed by Finland (83.6), Norway (83.6), Sweden (83.5) and Iceland (82.7).

As per the report, Pakistan performance was dismal on all indicators including Health, Education, Technology, Work and Resilience & Institutions.

On health front, Pakistan scored 48.3 points and was place 77 on the index, with Cyprus being the best performer. The country also remain far behind when it comes to providing education, after it was ranked the worst performer on Education Quality and Equity scoring only 15.7 points.

As per the report, Pakistan didn’t fare well on Technology Access indicator, after the country managed to score only 36.3 points and was placed 81among 82 countries.

Te report urged that governments must play the role of equalizer, levelling the playing field for all citizens, regardless of their socio-economic background. Suggesting the creation of a new financing model for social mobility; improving tax progressivity on personal income; policies that address wealth concentration and broadly re-balancing the sources of taxation can support the social mobility agenda.

The report also urged the businesses to promote a culture of meritocracy in hiring, providing vocational education, reskilling and upskilling as well as by paying fair wages. This includes industry and sector-specific plans to address historic inequalities within and between sectors.