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Issue Description
Is today’s society truly a meritocracy, in which economic and social barriers to achievement have been eliminated? Many believe this to be the case, and yet recent research suggested social mobility is slower in the UK today than it was in medieval England. This book looks at the thorny issue of class and whether it is an impediment to social mobility, covering issues such as the debate surrounding internships and whether terms like ‘underclass’ are responsible for demonising the working classes.
The information comes from a wide range of sources and includes government reports and statistics, newspaper articles, features, magazine articles and surveys, literature from lobby groups and charitable organisations.
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Key Facts
- A new report from BritainThinks shows a huge rise in the country’s aspirations, with seven in ten Britons now viewing themselves as middle class, compared with a quarter a generation ago. (page 9)
- The average working-class household income is £24,000. (page 9)
- The most important factor defining a person’s class is ‘level of education’, according to 23 per cent of people surveyed, followed by ‘their parents’ class’ (21 per cent), ‘the nature of their job’ (20 per cent) and ‘their income’ (20 per cent). (page 10)
- The Marmot Review identified that people living in the poorest areas die on average seven years earlier than people living in richer areas and spend up to 17 more years living with poor health. (page 13)
- Researchers at the University of California found that it takes longer for a family’s economic and social status to change since the Industrial Revolution than it did during earlier periods of human history.(page 14)
- More people think they have been upwardly mobile (that they have a job that is ‘higher’ up the occupational scale than their father’s) than think they have moved downwards. (page 15)
- Almost one in five children receive free school meals, yet this group accounts for fewer than one in a hundred Oxbridge students. (page 17)
- The UK has one of the lowest rates of social mobility in the developed world. (page 21)
- Only around three-quarters of children from the poorest fifth of families reach the expected Key Stage 2 level at age 11, compared with 97 per cent of children from the richest fifth. (page 25)
- Only 37 per cent of the poorest mothers said they hoped their child would go to university, compared with 81 per cent of the richest mothers. (page 26)
- Only 21 per cent of the poorest fifth (measured by parental socioeconomic position) manage to gain five good GCSEs, compared to 75 per cent of the top quintile – a gap of 54 percentage points. (page 27)
- A comprehensive-school student with A-Level grades BBB is likely to perform as well in their university degree as an independent- or grammar-school student with A-Level grades ABB or AAB – i.e. one to two grades higher. (page 32)
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Table of Contents
Chapter 1 Class and Inequality
Uncovered: the real Middle Britain, Celebrate your identity! That is, know your place, Chav: the vile word at the heart of fractured Britain, The 50p tax rate must go – but scrapping it could provoke an all-out class war, Inherited wealth and inequality, Seven in ten of us belong to Middle Britain, Health and social class.
Chapter 2 Social Mobility
Social mobility ‘slower than in medieval England’, How fair is the route to the top?, Pitfalls on the path to social mobility, Opening doors, breaking barriers, Clegg targets unpaid internships, Tackling inequality is key to improving social mobility, Mr Clegg, Upwardly mobile?, Schools and social mobility, Class divides our schools, The gap years: education and social immobility, Children’s education crucial for social mobility, Class has much bigger effect on white pupils’ results, Education isn’t a zero-sum game, Social mobility: a case for grammar schools?, Higher education outcomes, How do disadvantaged children success against the odds?, Why character skills are crucial in early years education, Making the rich pay more is not social mobility, Let’s open up internships, Unpaid internships break the law – but only 10% know it, Decline in mid-wage jobs.
