From 27.5 per cent .sx of the fathers it sinks to 18.9 per cent .sx of the sons .sx The largest group of the sons of skilled workers is found in Grade 8 ( 35.5 per cent .sx ) ; 30.6 per cent .sx remain in their father's grade ; another 16.8 per cent .sx become clerks or shop assistants in Grades 4 or 5 .sx The last group seems only a small proportion of those who move out of Grade 6 , but , as we have seen , they represent a large proportion of the total influx into 4 and 5 .sx Although on balance Grade 6 is considerably depleted , there is a certain inflow , made up mainly by the sons of men in Grades 7 and 8 .sx The number in Grade 7 ( Semi-skilled Labour ) also shows a considerable decline between the two generations , sinking from 23.5 per cent .sx to 15 per cent .sx of the total .sx The number of those sons who remain in this class is low , and nearly half the sons sink into the unskilled labour group .sx Of the remaining third , who rise in grade , half become skilled labourers and the remainder non-manual workers .sx The influx into Grade 7 is derived mainly from the other two grades of manual labour , but especially from unskilled workers .sx Grade 8 ( Unskilled Workers ) is like Grades 4 and 5 in that it has increased considerably over the two generations covered .sx The increase is accounted for partly by the very high proportion ( 58 per cent .sx ) of sons of unskilled labourers who remain in Grade 8 - the highest proportion of sons remaining in their fathers' class in the sample - and partly by an influx coming in equal proportions from Grades 6 and 7 .sx To the extent of nearly 50 per cent .sx , indeed , the unskilled group is made up of the sons of men in the higher manual grades who have fallen to a standard lower than that occupied by their fathers .sx Those who move out of Grade 8 are also found mainly in Grades 6 and 7 , though over 11 per cent .sx rise to the non-manual workers' grades .sx It is evident that while the grade of unskilled labour is rather more stable than most grades , there is nevertheless a by no means negligible possibility of rising out of it .sx Yet the figures given here , it is interesting to see , hardly bear out the results of the two other investigations we have mentioned .sx Professor Chapman and Mr. Abbott , in their inquiry among scholars in Lancashire continuation schools,' found that only 10.9 per cent .sx of the sons of unskilled workers remained in that grade .sx Chapman and Abbott's classification " unskilled " is , however , mainly composed of general labourers .sx Unskilled workers in the textile or metal industries would be recorded .sx under " textile " or " metal .sx " In our sample , of course , they would all come into Grade 8 .sx Moreover , their investigation was made in a number of Lancashire towns specialising in particular industries .sx In such places the proportion of unskilled workers would naturally be low compared with the proportion in an area like Merseyside , whose docking and transport interests require an enormous number of more or less unspecialised and unskilled workers .sx Also Chapman and Abbott's inquiry was made in 1912 , and there can be little doubt that the proportion of unskilled workers in industry has appreciably increased over the last two or three decades .sx Clearly , the greater the proportion of workers in a particular class , the fewer persons may be expected to emerge from it .sx It is to be expected , therefore , that our figures should show more stability among unskilled workers than those of Chapman and Abbott .sx A less striking but considerable divergence is found between our figures and those of Professor Ginsberg in his article on " Interchange among Social Classes .sx " From his figures obtained from Professor Bowley's survey of five towns in 1924 we find that 29.1 per cent .sx of the sons of unskilled workers are themselves unskilled workers , as against our 58 per cent .sx , while 64.2 per cent .sx of his skilled workers' sons are themselves skilled as against 30.6 per cent .sx in our figures .sx Again the difference seems to be chiefly due to the difference between localities .sx In Bowley's five towns , according to Ginsberg's figures , over half of the working-class fathers and male children are " skilled workers , " and only about 20 per cent .sx are unskilled .sx The proportions in our sample are almost reversed - almost 50 per cent .sx are unskilled and only about 20 per cent .sx skilled .sx The divergence seems to be due to the differing importance of the two groups of workers in the different industrial areas .sx The comparison brings out the important point that movements out of and into large groups are rarer than movements out of and into small groups .sx Where nearly half the working class are unskilled labourers , unskilled labourers' sons are far less likely to rise than in a town where only one-fifth belong to their grade .sx Persons in Grade 9 are not always easy to recognise , since the information on the household inquiry cards does not always indicate for how long an unemployed man has been out of work .sx So it is possible that the figures for this grade are not complete .sx It is clear , in any case , that membership of this grade is not confined to the elderly , for the number of sons whose fathers .sx are in Grade 9 is only one-eighth of the number of sons who are in that grade themselves .sx The sons of men in Grade 9 are fairly well distributed over the manual grades and some are to be found among the clerks .sx There is no indication that a father who is unfit to work or unemployable is any very considerable obstacle to a son's career .sx The sons found in Grade 9 , nearly three-quarters of whom are juveniles , are recruited from all grades , though nearly half come from unskilled labourers' homes .sx It was found , though the figures do not appear in any of the printed tables , that a slightly larger proportion than the average of the sons in this group come from unemployed fathers , and that this is especially noticeable among juveniles .sx But for the most part it seems that the individual's own fault or infirmity is responsible for his position in this grade .sx A comparison of mobility among juvenile and adult sons ( Table A ) shows that on the whole there is a remarkable degree of resemblance , This seems to indicate that no very extensive change has taken place in the extent of occupational mobility over the last twenty or thirty years .sx In Table E the positions and movements of sons are correlated with the " Degree of Employment " of their fathers .sx It is interesting that so large a proportion of the sons of part-time fathers ( most of whom are casual and unskilled workers ) should remain in their fathers' grades .sx In Table F we can see separately the extent of movement between the manual and the non-manual classes in the sample .sx It will be noticed that the flow from the manual to the non-manual class represents a very large proportion of the non- .sx manual class entered , but only a small proportion of the manual class left .sx The flow downwards is much less considerable :sx 15 in 100 sons of manual workers become non-manuals ; 5 in 100 manual workers are the sons of non-manuals .sx In Table G an analysis is made of the actual grades into which non-manuals' sons who become manual workers tend to fall .sx The high proportion of juvenile sons going to Grade 6 shows that quite a large number of lower middle-class fathers are now apprenticing their sons to skilled manual trades .sx III .sx MOBILITY IN CERTAIN TRADES .sx Besides the figures relating to mobility among Occupational Grades , some information has also been collected about certain locally important trades and industries .sx The household survey cards on which the father is a member of one of the specified trades have been taken out and the occupation of the son or sons discovered .sx The trades in question are :sx - 1 .sx Small Shopkeepers ; 2 .sx Independent workers ; 3 .sx Engineering and Shipbuilding , divided into skilled and unskilled workers ; 4 .sx Building , skilled and unskilled ; 5 .sx Railwaymen ; 6 .sx Dock Labourers ; 7 .sx Seamen .sx The sons of small shopkeepers and independent workers who are employed by their fathers are counted as small shopkeepers or independent workers .sx It will be seen that this classification in some cases cuts across the ten Occupational Grades with which we have so far dealt .sx There are , of course , a certain number of other trades of local importance which are either too indefinite for our purpose - such as general labourers - or which can be at any rate approximately identified with one of our other groups - such as clerks or shop assistants .sx Table H summarises the results of this investigation .sx It will be seen that on the average 18 out of 100 sons of men in these industrial groups follow their fathers' trades .sx This figure is very much lower than the corresponding figure for Occupational Grades , for we found before that 37 out of 100 men remain in the same grade as their fathers .sx There is evidently a good deal of shifting among the different industries in the same Occupational Grade .sx The highest percentage of sons remaining in their father's trade .sx is found among Seamen ( 26 per cent .sx ) , while the lowest is found on the railways ( 8 per ) .sx A certain tendency , but not a very considerable one , was found to exist towards interchange between skilled and unskilled branches of the same trade .sx Four builders' labourers , for example , had sons who were craftsmen , while four craftsmen had labourer sons .sx From the same data also we were able to find out which trades contribute mainly to the influx from manual to non-manual occupations which we have discussed above .sx We found that approximately one-quarter of the sons of building , engineering and shipbuilding craftsmen and of railwaymen make their way into non-manual occupations .sx On the other hand , an exception-ally small proportion of the sons of dock labourers emerge from manual labour .sx These figures may again be compared with those obtained from the inquiry by Professor Chapman and Mr. Abbott .sx They found that on the average about 36 per cent .sx of the sons follow their father's trade as against our figure of 18 per cent .sx For " Building and Working in Wood " they give 24.2 per cent .sx against our 17 per cent .sx for Building ( Skilled and Unskilled) .sx For " Metals " they give 33.3 per cent , against our 13 per cent .sx for Engineering and Shipbuilding , The discrepancy is extremely interesting because it tends to support the view 3 that comparatively small towns with local industries breed a certain industrial stability among all the population whether employed in the localised industry or not .sx Towns like Blackburn , Bolton , Burnley , Oldham , Rochdale and Stockport - where Chapman and Abbott obtained their information - are typical examples of specialising industrial centres .sx Except for Stockport - a hatting centre - these places are all textile towns , and the low degree of mobility in the textile industries is well known .sx It is significant that other industries , such as Metals and Building , should also show such low mobility there .sx In Merseyside , on the other hand , a great area with a vast diversity of trades and industries , mobility among them is very considerable , and the extent to which sons follow their fathers' occupations relatively small .sx On the other hand , it will be remembered that when discussing Occupational Grades we found that mobility among them was far less frequent in Merseyside than in Chapman and Abbott's Lancashire towns , or in Bowley's five towns .sx The conclusion suggested is that in the smaller , specialising towns , mobility among industries is rare , but there is a good deal of movement among the different grades of skill .sx On Merseyside there is far more mobility among the various trades , but less between the Occupational Grades within each industry or in industry as a whole .sx Our general conclusion is , then , that mobility among Occupational Grades , while not appearing to increase much over the last generation , is on the whole considerable , but that movements upwards are generally balanced by movements downwards .sx