The postwar dream of doing better in life than your parents has faded, with the UK now a country where opportunities for upward social mobility and economic advancement are increasingly limited. The social mobility prospects of disadvantaged young people are bleak, said the research. For many, the chances of moving down the class structure are now greater than their chances of moving up it.
“For generations growing up in the early 21st century, the dream of just doing better in life, let alone climbing the income ladder, is disappearing,” concluded the analysis by thinktank the Sutton Trust.
“This new research shows how far opportunities are still determined by background, and shockingly predicts a fall in income mobility for poorer young people, driven by the impact of the pandemic and, more recently, the cost of living crisis,” said Sir Peter Lampl, chair of the Sutton Trust.
Lee Elliot Major, co-author of the study and professor of social mobility at the University of Exeter, said: “It is increasingly clear that stark learning losses, suffered disproportionately by poorer pupils during the pandemic, will leave long term scars for current generations. Unless radical action is taken, our research suggests they face worsening mobility prospects.”
It noted that children in the top 20% of wealthiest families were up to 14 percentage points more likely to have had paid tutors to supplement their education than those whose parents have low incomes. This, says the report, is an example of “stark divides” in home environments and parental investments that “do not bode well for future social mobility levels”.
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