Social mobility Are universities worth it? A review of the evidence and policy options 20 January 2025 by David Willetts Young graduates earn £5,000 more annually than non-graduates, but that premium is lower than it was 10 years ago. The real earnings of young graduates have been broadly flat over the last decade, similar to earnings overall, whereas non-graduate earnings have been boosted by the minimum wage. But graduates individually do continue to enjoy rises … Continued READ MORE
Living standards· Incomes· Inequality & poverty· Social mobility Tackling structural inequality should sit at the heart of boosting living standards 8 October 2019 by Fahmida Rahman Tackling inequality is a long game, particularly when faced with deeply embedded structural inequalities. And understanding how structural inequality plays out across different people, places and points in time requires the adoption of a new focus within the researcher and policy making community. READ MORE
Wealth & assets· Social mobility· Housing· Intergenerational Centre House of the rising son (or daughter): the impact of parental wealth on their children’s homeownership 4 December 2018 by Stephen Clarke and John Wood The rise of the so-called Bank of Mum and Dad (BOMAD) is much-discussed but until now there has been little analysis of the strength of the relationship between parental support and people’s chances of becoming homeowners. This paper fills this gap: we analyse the association between the property wealth held by people’s parents and their own, stripping out the impact that other factors (earnings, education, etc) have on homeownership. READ MORE
Living standards· Inequality & poverty· Social mobility Diverse outcomes: living standards by ethnicity 7 August 2017 by Adam Corlett This briefing note looks at how typical household incomes have differed by ethnicity, given that around one fifth of the population self-report their ethnicity as something other than White British. While not an attempt to offer comprehensive analysis, we also explore some of the causes, including differences in the labour market, pointing to the need for further work. READ MORE
Labour market· Low pay· Skills· Social mobility Finding your routes: non-graduate pathways in the UK’s labour market 11 May 2016 by Conor D’Arcy and David Finch This report, commissioned by the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission, explores how poor career routes are holding back the ‘forgotten forty per cent’ of the workforce – mid-skilled workers with at least five A*-C GCSEs but without a university education. READ MORE
