The State of the Nation 2024 report provides a comprehensive analysis of social mobility in the UK, highlighting key trends at a local level.
Download a PDF of the report or read an HTML version.
The report builds further on the new Social Mobility Index by breaking the UK down to local authority level, so we can see where social mobility is working best and worst. It also provides breakdowns by protected characteristics such as sex, ethnicity and disability. These breakdowns are featured mainly on our accompanying online tool.
Some of the reports finding include:
Geography – Young people living in London and the adjoining Home Counties continue to have better social mobility prospects. Local Authorities with the less favourable opportunities for young people tend to be in the North East and North West of England, as well as older industrial and port areas.
Intermediate outcomes (school and young adulthood) – The attainment gaps between pupils eligible for free school meals and those not eligible remain largely unchanged from last year. However, there have been improvements to opportunities for young adults; there also appears to be a narrowing of the socio-economic background (SEB) gap in university enrolment between 2014 and 2022.
Social Mobility Trends (drivers of Social Mobility) – Trends in the drivers, or background conditions that enable social mobility, have been generally positive but there are still challenges that need to be addressed. The percentage of children living in relative poverty in the UK has risen since 2012 and is at about 30%.