On Tuesday The Social Mobility Commission (SMC) released their 2017 “State of the Nation” report. The findings in the report are taken from the Social Mobility Index, which measures the prospects of children from disadvantaged backgrounds success as an adult in each of England’s 324 local authority areas. The index identifies which parts of the country have the best social mobility outcomes (the hotspots) and which have the worst (the coldspots).
In summary the report discredits the belief that a simple north/south divide exists and shows that London and surrounding areas are moving ahead from the rest of the country. A number of rural, coastal and former industrial areas are economically and socially beginning to lag and hotspots and coldspots exist in nearly every area of Britain.
The disadvantages faced by young people in different areas will affect their life chances including their access to higher education. The report revealed that 50% of disadvantaged young people in Kensington and Chelsea will attend university, compared to 10% in Hastings, while only 13 % of disadvantaged young people in former industrial areas and 14 % in remote rural cold spots progress to university.
The SMC have requested the government ensure that the implementation of the industrial strategy: “Building a Britain Fit for the Future” report, which was released on Monday, coordinates national economic and social policies to help address the postcode lottery which exist in social mobility.