Foreword
This is the Commission’s first annual State of the Nation report. The Commission was created by the UK Government in 2012 as an independent and statutory body to monitor and report on what is happening to child poverty and social mobility in our country. In this report we assess what the governments in the UK and other parts of society are doing, what progress is being made, and what is likely to happen in future. We make a number of recommendations for action.
It is part of Britain’s DNA that everyone should have a fair chance in life. Yet too often demography is destiny in our country. Being born poor often leads to a lifetime of poverty. Poor schools ease people into poor jobs. Disadvantage and advantage cascade down the generations. Over decades we have become a wealthier society but we have struggled to become a fairer one.
Compared with many other developed nations we have high levels of child poverty and low levels of social mobility. When one in six children – 2.3 million – is officially classified as poor, it exacts a high social price. There is an economic price too in wasted potential and lower growth. One study found that Western countries with high social mobility have enjoyed a much higher economic growth rate over the past century than low-mobility economies.
The global financial crisis has brought these concerns to the fore. In its wake a new public consensus has begun to emerge that unearned wealth for a few at the top, growing insecurity for many in the middle, and stalled life chances for those at the bottom is not a viable social proposition for Britain. As birth not worth has become more a determinant of life chances, higher social mobility – reducing the extent to which a person’s class or income is dependent on the class or income of their parents – has become the new holy grail of public policy. These are welcome developments. They are the genesis of the Commission and this report.