State of the Nation 2016: Social Mobility in Great Britain

BRITAIN has a deep social mobility problem which is getting worse for an entire generation of young people, the Social Mobility Commission's State of the Nation 2016 report warns. The impact is not just felt by the poorest in society but is also holding back whole tranches of middle, as well as low income, families; these treadmill families are running harder and harder, but are standing still. The problem is not just social division, but a widening geographical divide between the big Cities; London especially; and too many towns and counties across the country that are being left behind economically and hollowed out socially.

In the North West:-

► 48% of children from low-income families are school-ready at 5, compared 67% of their wealthier peers. The local authority with the biggest development gap between advantaged and disadvantaged children in the early years is Wigan, where just 41% of poorer children are school ready at 5.

► Blackpoll, Knowles and Oldham area all among the 10 local authority areas with the largest proportion of children in schools rated inadequate.

► Just 3.9% of children eligible for free school meals gain 5 A grades at GCSE. In Knowles, only 1 in 5 children eligible for free school meals achieve 5 GCSEs at grade C or above (including English and maths).

► Blackpoll is 1 of the worst local authorities in the country for keeping poorer children in education after 16. Some 18% of poorer young people are not in education or training (NET) at 16, compared to 7% in the 6 best local authorities.

► At Bolton University, 25% of all students from low participation areas end up dropping out before they complete their courses.

► 75% of local authorities in the North West have more than 1 in 4 workers earning below the Living Wage, compared to less than 1 in 4 local authorities in the South East. The lowest hourly pay averages in the country are Rosendale (£8.83) and Eden (£8.97).

The 'State of the Nation 2016' report, which was laid before Parliament this morning, lays bare the scale of the social mobility challenge facing the Government. It finds fundamental barriers including an unfair education system, a 2 tier labour market, a regionally imbalanced economy and an unaffordable housing market.

The Social Mobility Commission welcomes the high priority that the current, as well as successive, governments have given to social mobility and finds that some real progress has been made. But it concludes that the twentieth century expectation that each generation would be better off than the preceding 1 is no longer being met.

It points to evidence that those born in the 1980's are the 1st post war cohort not to start their working years with higher incomes than their immediate predecessors. Home ownership, the aspiration of successive generations of ordinary people, is in sharp decline, among the young especially. Most shocking of all, today only 1 in 8 children from low income backgrounds is likely to become a high income earner as an adult.

The Commission calls for new thinking and new approaches to deal with these deep structural problems. It recommends that an ambitious 10 year programme of social reform is needed which the Government should lead and which employers and educators should join. The Rt Hon Alan Milburn, chair of the Social Mobility Commission, said:- "The rungs on the social mobility ladder are growing further apart. It is becoming harder for this generation of struggling families to move up. The social divisions we face in Britain today impact many more people and places than the very poorest in society or the few thousands youngsters who miss out on a top university. Whole sections of society and whole tracts of Britain feel left behind. The growing sense that we have become an 'us and them' society; where a few unfairly entrench power and wealth to themselves; is deeply corrosive of our cohesion as a nation. As the EU referendum result showed, the public mood is sour and decision makers have been far too slow to respond. We applaud the Prime Minister's determination to heal social division and foster social progress. That is a big ambition. It will require big action. Fundamental reforms are needed in our country's education system, labour market and local economies to address Britain's social mobility problem. That should be the holy grail of public policy, the priority for government and the cause which unites the nation to action."

Nationwide key findings include:-

► Britain has a deep social mobility problem: the poorest find it hardest to progress but so do families with annual income of around £22,500.

► People born in the 1980's are the first post-war cohort not to start their working years with higher incomes than their immediate predecessors.

► Millions of workers, particularly women, are trapped in low pay with only 1 in 10 escaping.

► Only 1 in 8 children from low income backgrounds is likely to become a high income earner as an adult.

► From the early years through to universities and the workplace, there is an entrenched and unbroken correlation between social class and success.

► In the last decade, 500,000 poorer children were not school ready by age 5.

► Children in deprived areas are twice as likely to be in childcare provision that is not good enough, compared with the most prosperous areas.

► Families where both parents are highly educated now spend on average around 110 minutes a day on educational activities with their young children compared to 71 minutes a day for those with low education. This compares with around 20 to 30 minutes a day in the 1970's when there was no significant difference between the groups of parents.

► Over the last 5 years, 1.2 million, 16 year olds, disproportionately from low income homes, have left school without 5 good GCSEs. At present, just 5% of children eligible for free school meals gain 5 A grades at GCSE's.

► A child living in 1 of England's most disadvantaged areas is 27 times more likely to go to an inadequate school than a child in the most advantaged.

► Young people from low income homes with similar GCSEs to their better off classmates are one third more likely to drop out of education at 16 and 30% less likely to study A Levels that could get them into a top university.

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