The Social Mobility Commission has published our new report which shows that Britons value feeling secure, healthy and connected, over high pay and professional status.
The report presents public perceptions of social mobility, inequality and what makes up a successful life in the UK in 2025. This research forms part of the Commission’s programme to modernise the concept of social mobility and align it with the lived experiences, values and aspirations of ordinary people.
The report sets out findings in 4 key areas
What constitutes success and what do people value?
- Britons are more likely to say success is about physical and mental wellbeing’ (95%) or ‘having good relationships with family and friends’ (94%) rather than ‘earning a high income’ (65%) or ‘having a job regarded as professional or managerial’ (44%).
Perceptions of class and social mobility in the UK
- Class identity can be ‘sticky’. A large majority (76%) of people described themselves as being in the same class as their parents despite 74% saying that they were better off.
Perceptions of inequalities and whether they matter in the UK
- Three in four people said that there were big gaps between social classes. However inequality is seen as less of a concern than other issues like inflation, the UK economy and the NHS.
Best routes for everyone to succeed
- When asked to rate the extent to which different investment route would help, a large proportion of respondents felt that investing in ‘apprenticeships’ (83% ), ‘job creation’ (82%) and ‘schools’ (82%) would help people to achieve success regardless of their background. Support for university education was comparatively lower at 67%.
Alun Francis, Chair of the Social Mobility Commission, said:
The Social Mobility Commission has been arguing for some time that there is a conventional view of social mobility which is narrowly focussed on the “lucky few”. And we need definitions and measures of social mobility which are relevant to a wider variety of people and places.
The message of this research for policymakers is clear: Britain can create opportunities that allow people to advance without imposing very narrow definitions of what this looks like, or equally narrow pathways about how they should get there. We maintain that ‘one size fits all’ definitions of social mobility are making it an irrelevance for most people in the United Kingdom and our research into people’s perceptions of social mobility supports this view.