ABSTRACT
In 2016, the Philippines launched AmBisyon Natin 2040, which embodies the long-term aspirations of Filipinos for themselves and for the country. At the heart of these aspirations is the idea of social mobility or the movement of entities from lower socioeconomic status to higher socioeconomic outcomes. However, despite the Philippines’ experience of economic growth since 2011, there are several developments that could potentially derail the fulfilment of such aspirations. This chapter provides the rationale behind the development of a research agenda on social mobility and reviews materials that can help in quantifying distributional changes and in identifying processes or mechanisms that affect social mobility. It also identifies available datasets and existing studies in the Philippines that can be used to enrich the state of social mobility research in the country. The findings will help policymakers develop a system for monitoring programmes or interventions needed to facilitate and sustain upward mobility and address issues such as in-work poverty and inequality.
