The experience of downclassing. The case of thirty-years-old cohort in Spain

© 2018 Universidad Complutense de Madrid. All rights reserved. The objective of this article is to analyze the experience of social downclassing among undergraduate and postgraduate people, within the cohort of thirty-years-old and in the current context of economic crisis. The analysis is based on in-depth interviews with three types of social profiles, which are distinguished primarily by the level of education and the occupation of their parents. The study reveals that the experience of downclassing is not univocal, but results in the mobilization of a feeling of double downclassing (graduate title and social class of the family of origin), the feeling of belonging to a “sacrificed generation” and the feeling of disillusionment with meritocracy.