SocialStatus

ThoughtStorms Wiki

This is allegedly a very strong statistical argument that social status in families persists across generations.

https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2300926120

The conclusion implies that it's genetic. With the caveat that it can't be sure. And that inherited status probably has supplementary contributions.

Since these are observational data, there is no proof here that additive genetic transmission causes social status. All we can determine is that whatever social processes are producing the observed outcomes have a form of transmission which mimics that of additive genetic effects, in the presence of the important social institution of strong assortative mating ...

Genetics is correlated with social outcomes, partly directly, but substantially through the indirect pathway of family environment.

Obviously I'm not enthused by this result. Because it seems to reject the possibility of fixing social inequality with policies. Or at least policies that aren't drastic (such as forced marriages or sterilization).

But on first glance, the paper seems to be done OK. And reputable journal. Data is public so people who know statistics can do it themselves. I'll be interested in seeing good critiques of this paper.