British social mobility not improved in 30 years

By Michael Holden

LONDON, (Reuters Life!) - Social mobility has not improved in Britain in 30 years with bright children from poor families being overtaken by less able youngsters from rich homes by the age of seven, a report released on Thursday said.

The findings show that the academic progress of children is still overwhelmingly linked to parental income, providing few opportunities to close the wealth gap, said the Sutton Trust charity which commissioned the study.

"Shamefully, Britain remains stuck at the bottom of the international league tables when it comes to social mobility," said Peter Lampl, the trust's chairman.

"It is appalling that young people's life chances are still so tied to the fortunes of their parents, and that this situation has not improved over the last three decades."

The report said that children from poor households who are in the brightest group at the age of three slip back in developmental tests by the age of five, and are likely to be overtaken by those from affluent backgrounds by seven.

It found that 44 percent of those from the richest 20 percent of households attained a university degree compared to just 10 percent from the poorest 20 percent of homes.

The survey said there had been a sharp decline in intergenerational income mobility -- the ability of children to earn more than their parents -- for those born in 1970 compared with those born in 1958.

While that decline had not continued between 1970 and 2000, the situation had not significantly improved, according to the study by researchers from the London School of Economics and the University of Surrey.