We’ve all been there: Some people seem born to succeed, while others struggle to escape poverty. Socioeconomic status (SES)—your income, education, occupation, and wealth—is largely determined by upbringing, opportunity, and hard work. However, recent research, summarized in this review study by Abdel Abdellaoui and colleagues, throws a significant stone into the pond. It turns out that genes play a surprisingly large role in where we end up on the social ladder.

SES is, of course, a social construct: what is seen as ‘valuable’ in one culture can be completely different elsewhere. But that does not mean that genetics cannot have an influence here. Research shows that certain genetic characteristics can make it easier for you to develop skills valued by your society. Think of intelligence, perseverance or creativity. These characteristics make it more likely that you will achieve a higher SES.

That may sound a bit uncomfortable, and for good reason. Genetic research and social status have a painful history—think of eugenics, the selective “improvement” of populations, which has led to terrible practices in the past. That is precisely why caution is required. We need to understand better how our society works, not genetically intervene.

Interestingly, genes determine not only where you start but also how you move through life. People with genetic advantages are often better able to move to more prosperous regions, choose partners with similar qualities, and cope better with social challenges. This further reinforces differences between social strata.

In addition, SES also appears to influence genetic selection through reproduction and even mortality. Historically, wealthier people often had more children, which spread their genetic traits more. Industrialization reversed this trend so that higher SES was actually associated with fewer children. In some countries, we are now seeing a shift towards more children in higher income groups, possibly because it has become easier to combine work and family.

So, genetics can provide a new perspective on social inequality. To be clear, that does not mean that everything is fixed—on the contrary. The more fairly a society is organized, the more opportunities there are for everyone to use his or her genetic potential, in my view, as we have seen recently. Ultimately, that is perhaps the most important insight: our society is constantly changing, and it is up to us to ensure that genetics does not determine where you end up but, at most, gives you a little push in the back.

Abstract of the study :

In civilizations, individuals are born into or sorted into different levels of socio-economic status (SES). SES clusters in families and geographically, and is robustly associated with genetic effects. Here we first review the history of scientific research on the relationship between SES and heredity. We then discuss recent findings in genomics research in light of the hypothesis that SES is a dynamic social construct that involves genetically influenced traits that help in achieving or retaining a socio-economic position, and can affect the distribution of genes associated with such traits. Social stratification results in people with differing traits being sorted into strata with different environmental exposures, which can result in evolutionary selection pressures through differences in mortality, reproduction and non-random mating. Genomics research is revealing previously concealed genetic consequences of the way society is organized, yielding insights that should be approached with caution in pursuit of a fair and functional society.