The Social Mobility Myth

Social Mobility, who doesn't want more of it?

Well a fair number of people actually. Social mobility according to our politicians is a win-win. Stories of kids eating sawdust and bathing outdoors turning into high flying lawyers or some of those chinless successful business gurus we see.

That is only half the story.

I am generally someone who believes there is a finite amount of money and resources to go around. You can make gains or losses, there is always room for change, but generally it is about redistributing a finite cake.

The other half of the social mobility story is the one the ex-sawdust eater has replaced. This person would have been born into a wealthy family, got access to far more chances but had their place taken by the ex-sawdust eater.

Which is why we never actually see anything done by successive Westminster Governments. Ultimately social mobility will include alot of wealthy (nb. powerful) people's kids doing less well. While Britain remains one of the most unequal in Europe (after a decade or so of Labour Government no less), social mobility is a pipe dream and just the same hollow promise the last Government made.

From what I can see, social mobility is more prevalent in more equal societies. I would argue this because it makes moving up or down the ladder is not so extreme. The ex-sawdust eater would perhaps only go up a little bit to be deemed a move up, the rich kid vice versa downwards.

The fact is a society as unequal as Britian is never going to engender widespread social mobility. Life chances, a leg up and opportunity is hived off and guarded jealously by those that can access it. And lets be honest, given I have moved up the social mobility ladder, I am keen to give my kids everything they can to maintain that upwardly mobile curve. Some of the left demonise that, but I am a product of succeeding in spite of the system, don't demonise me for wanting my kids to succeed working with the current system.

I am all for increasing working class opportunity and positively doing something about it. One of the best ideas I heard was from Peter Wilby in the New Statesman - he argued that every single school, state and private should be given two places a year each to Oxford and Cambridge. The best two pupils in that year, from bog standard comp to Eton, would get the place.

Of course that is far to radical for the political class or even many non-working class people - it's far too fair and takes away their inbuilt advantages. And that my friends, is why social mobility is broken in the UK.