Innovation Generation: next steps for social mobility

The Social Mobility Commission has published its new strategy document ‘Innovation Generation’, setting out a new approach to change the debate about social mobility and ensure that more opportunities are available for a broader range of people.

Traditional approaches to social mobility are failing to give opportunities to all

The traditional approach to social mobility focuses on disadvantaged young people’s access to higher education and professional careers.

For widespread upward mobility to be possible, we need to increase the number of opportunities for people to move up into. But upward income mobility has declined for those born from the mid-1980s onward, and productivity growth in the UK has stagnated since the 2008 global financial crisis.

The key role of economy and geography

An innovative economic strategy, which fuels growth by increasing productivity, is urgently needed to create job opportunities. This must include improving productivity away from London and the south-east, where the financial and professional service sectors are concentrated. This can be helped by supporting entrepreneurs and innovators in the regions, for instance through innovation hubs and removing barriers to competition.

A place-based strategy is also essential, says the report. The SMC’s State of the Nation 2024 revealed big geographical disparities in social mobility outcomes with the lowest opportunities generally found in post-industrial, coastal and rural areas.

Skills and training

More attention should be given to those with the least training and qualifications to give them a better chance of finding a good job. While overall educational performance, in terms of schools and progressing to university, has shown positive improvements, there are too many people with no qualifications who are at risk of being overlooked completely.

To learn more download a PDF of the report or read the HTML version