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The National
19-05-2025
- Business
- The National
2012 Olympics kids are UK's most upwardly mobile
Children who grew up in East Ham during the 2012 Olympics are earning almost 50 per cent more than peers from the poorest parts of the UK today, a survey has found. The London constituencies of East Ham and Stratford hosted the Olympic Games in 2012, and the construction of the Olympic Village there was expected to bring large-scale regeneration to the marginalised areas. Now, East Ham's poorest children are among the UK's most socially mobile, followed by those from neighbouring Stratford and Bow, according the Sutton Trust's Opportunity Index. The annual survey tracks the education level and earnings of young people under 30 who were eligible for free school meals, to assess their opportunities. In East Ham, 35 per cent of pupils who were eligible for free school meals had a degree by the age of 22, compared to 10 per cent in Newcastle Upon Tyne and Central West – the constituency with the lowest rankings in the survey. Those aged 28 who grew up in East Ham earned almost 50 per cent more on average a year (£21,135), than those in the lowest ranking constituency (£14,158). Forty-eight per cent of children in East Ham completed their A-levels with an average C grade, above the national average of 46. Less than a fifth of East Ham pupils were not in school, higher education or work after their GCSEs, four points above the national average, and 25 per cent above the more affluent constituency of Kensington and Bayswater. 'Disadvantaged young people growing up in East Ham, and Stratford and Bow have the best opportunity to become socially mobile in England," Erica Holt-White, research and policy manager at the Sutton Trust, told The National. "Those eligible for free school meals achieve very well at GCSE, and we see young people progressing to university and reaching the top 20 per cent of earners at much higher rates than other young people from similar backgrounds in other areas of the country. "Local investment" in East Ham and Stratford and Bow, as well as the "demographic of the constituency", were among the factors contributing to the high rankings, she said. Yet the survey also showed that young people in London were more likely to move out of their constituency than those outside London, against the 'traditional view' of migration towards the capital. Within the orbit of the Olympic Village in Hackney, the proportion of working adults who are university graduates in Woodberry Down and Manor House leapt from just over one third (36.9 per cent) in 2011 to more than two thirds (67.8 per cent) – more than anywhere else in England and Wales. 'London and the East of England also have the highest rates for disadvantaged young people moving elsewhere by the age of 28, at 13 per cent compared to just 6 per cent of those from the North East," said Carl Cullinane, director of research and policy at the Sutton Trust. The survey revealed a "a startling picture of inequality of opportunity" across England, according to Nick Harrison, chief executive of the Sutton Trust. The training and educational pathways available to disadvantaged young people within their own constituencies determined how they would fare later on. "The life chances of disadvantaged young people remain strongly tied to where they grow up," he said. "If the government genuinely wants to break down barriers to opportunity, we need serious investment in education and economic opportunities in the 'left behind' parts of the UK. "Failing to act is damaging the life changes of too many of the next generation."
The Guardian
14-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
London dominates England's social mobility league with top 20 places
The top 20 constituencies with the best social mobility in England are all in London, according to research from a leading education charity that underscores the stark regional divide in children's life chances. In a report published on Thursday, the Sutton Trust has put together an 'opportunity index' by analysing six measures of mobility. These include the share of children on free school meals who achieve passes in GCSE maths and English; who complete a degree by age 22; and who make it into the top 20% of earners by age 28. The trust finds that all of the top-scoring 20 constituencies on this index, and 42 of the top 50, are in London. The highest-ranked constituency outside the capital is Birmingham Perry Bar, in the West Midlands, in 23rd. The research shows the dramatic differences in children's prospects, depending on where in England they happen to be born. Children receiving free school meals in the best-performing constituency, the social security minister Stephen Timms's seat of East Ham, are a startling 30 percentage points more likely to achieve grade 5 in English and maths than their counterparts in the area at the bottom of the list, Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West, represented by Labour's Chi Onwura. As they go on through life, these same children are three times as likely to complete a degree if they came from Timms's east London seat than they are if they were born in Onwura's Newcastle seat. The latter is one of three of the 10 lowest-scoring constituencies in north-east England. Nick Harrison, the Sutton Trust's chief executive, said: 'This research paints a startling picture of inequality of opportunity across England. The life chances of disadvantaged young people remain strongly tied to where they grow up.' The report, which is based on data covering 10 million people over 25 years, also reveals big differences in the likelihood that children from low-income families leave the area they grew up in when they become adults. Despite the familiar narrative of young people moving to London to seek their fortune, the Sutton Trust finds that the capital is one of two regions, with the east of England, where the highest proportion of children on free school meals go on to move elsewhere, at 13%. That is more than twice the 6% in north-east England who do so. Anthony Breach, a research director at the Centre for Cities thinktank, said the Sutton Trust's research suggested that aside from London, many English cities are not offering the economic opportunities they could. 'It's striking that only London among our major cities consistently performs the role we'd expect of a big city – driving progression, opportunity and advancement for its residents. This aligns with the evidence that Britain's other big cities are underperforming,' he said. The Sutton Trust makes a series of policy recommendations for narrowing these regional gaps in social mobility, including incentivising the best teachers to work in disadvantaged schools, and improving financial help for children from low-income families who attend university. As negotiations between the Treasury and Whitehall departments intensify, the trust also calls on the government to make improving social mobility a guiding principle in the forthcoming spending review. 'Opportunities for social mobility will only be available nationwide if there is a more even spread of economic opportunities across the country,' the report says. 'This should be a sustained effort across government, potentially including greater devolution of powers and reforms to funding for local government, as well as greater investment in infrastructure regionally – including transport, and opportunities for education and training.' Priya Edwards, a senior policy and advocacy adviser at Save the Children UK, agreed that ministers should be prepared to commit significant resources to improving children's prospects. 'This report shows how children's life chances are sadly limited by both poverty and geography and it should serve as a wake-up call to the UK government,' she said. 'Ministers must act to level the playing field for all children, regardless of where they live. They should start by scrapping the two-child limit and benefit cap at the comprehensive spending review on 11 June, or in the forthcoming child poverty strategy.' A Department for Education spokesperson said: 'High and rising standards are at the heart of the government's mission to break down barriers to opportunity and ensure where you come from does not determine your future success. 'This government has inherited a system with baked-in inequalities, which we're tackling head-on through our plan for change by rolling out free breakfast clubs, improving mental health support, investing over £3bn to support those children who need it most and delivering a rich and broad curriculum so pupils are set up for life, work and the future.'
Daily Mirror
14-05-2025
- General
- Daily Mirror
Kids on free school meals earn £7,000 less if they live in one northern area
A disadvantaged child growing up in Newcastle on average earns £7,000 less in their late 20s compared to one who grows up in east London, a grim report shows today A disadvantaged child growing up in Newcastle on average earns £7,000 less in their late 20s compared to one who grows up in east London, a grim report shows. A deep dive into social mobility disparities today shows kids growing up in London are miles ahead compared to their peers. The report, by the education charity Sutton Trust, found 34% of kids on free school meals (FSM) gain a pass in Maths and English at GCSE in London, compared to 19-22% in the rest of the country. Children are eligible for FSM if their family's household income is less than £7,400 a year. In Sutton Trust's rankings of young people's levels of opportunity across England, London constituencies took all the top 20 places, and 42 of the top 50 constituencies. East Ham in London is ranked as the top constituency for opportunity in England, with Newcastle Upon Tyne Central and West ranked lowest. While the two areas have similar levels of FSM kids, 83% of kids in the London constituency are in sustained education or employment after GCSEs, compared to just 38% in the northern constituency. And FSM pupils from East Ham are also over three times more likely to have a degree by age 22, at 35%, compared to those in Newcastle, at 10%. More widely, 53% of FSM pupils from the North East and Yorkshire and the Humber were in education, an apprenticeship, or employment at age 28 - well below the 68% national average for England. While the north-south divide remained, the Sutton Trust also found 'drastic inequalities of opportunity across the South East'. Sevenoaks in Kent has the highest proportion of FSM pupils not in education or employment at the age of 28, at 57%, while Bicester and Woodstock in the same region has the lowest rate at 30%. Separate research by UCL today(THU) also found academically high-achieving teenagers from the most deprived backgrounds in England are five times more likely to be arrested and cautioned or sentenced than their peers from the wealthiest backgrounds. The Resolution Foundation estimates without urgent action the number of kids falling below the poverty line will hit a record high of 4.6million by the end of the decade. Keir Starmer has faced calls to scrap the two-child benefit limit, a Tory-era policy that is blamed for trapping kids in poverty. Ministers have so far resisted the pressure and have pointed to their child poverty taskforce, which is due to report soon on the Government's plans to reduce child poverty. The Sutton Trust also called for pupil premium funding, which supports disadvantaged pupils, to be increased, as it said its real terms value has fallen by 20% since 2014/15. Nick Harrison, chief executive of the Sutton Trust, said: 'This research paints a startling picture of inequality of opportunity across England. The life chances of disadvantaged young people remain strongly tied to where they grow up. If the Government genuinely wants to break down barriers to opportunity, we need serious investment in education and economic opportunities in the 'left behind' parts of the UK. Failing to act is damaging the life changes of too many of the next generation.' Sarah Hannafin, head of policy at school leaders' union NAHT, said: 'Regional inequalities in educational attainment were exacerbated over the last decade by funding cuts under the previous government to schools and community services, the pandemic, and the cost-of-living crisis. As well as increased funding for schools we also need more government investment in services like social care and mental health, as well as action to tackle poverty, if children across the country are to flourish in the classroom.'
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
British culture is excluding the majority. Labour is to blame
The arts have a class problem. I can't believe I'm writing this in 2025, but it's true – in fact, the situation is worse than ever. Class is on my mind thanks to the news that New Writing North, a charity based in Newcastle, has launched an initiative called The Bee. Backed by Michael Sheen, The Bee will include a literary magazine, a podcast and an outreach programme in an attempt to increase working-class representation. They'll even offer an 'alternative canon' of fiction that includes New Grub Street by George Gissing and Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh. New Writing North is an important organisation, and the involvement of Sheen will hopefully add star wattage to a serious crisis. The Sutton Trust, which monitors social mobility in the UK, reported in 2014 that only 12 per cent of those who worked in publishing came from working-class backgrounds; the proportion of middle-class workers has risen steadily since. I fear that as advances for novels and publishing salaries continue to stagnate, talented youngsters will choose better-paid and more secure professions such as law or accountancy. We're too easily fooled by the odd high-profile success. Much was made, for instance, and quite rightly, of Douglas Stuart's assured 2020 debut novel Shuggie Bain which drew on his impoverished and dysfunctional Scottish childhood. But Stuart wasn't a young voice who'd been financially cushioned – he was a working professional in his mid-forties, a boy who'd grown up poor in the 1980s and through talent and determination forged a successful career in the New York fashion world. It isn't just books. Careers in the arts are, in generally, badly paid, and any working-class youngster hoping for a career in theatre, opera or visual art (whether as an artist or behind the scenes) will struggle to make a living. Even pop, once seen as the preserve of the working-class young, feels as if it's becoming increasingly bourgeois. Charli XCX, Mumford and Sons, The Last Dinner Party – so many leading musicians can boast of a pukka education. This has been the case for a couple of decades now – but once upon a time it was just Joe Strummer and the majority of Genesis. The depressing thing about all of this is that we have gone backwards. Social mobility, in truth, ended at some point in the 1970s. Blame the Labour Party: under their education secretary Anthony Crosland, they scrapped a grammar-school system that had worked perfectly well for 40 years and thus – surprisingly for a bunch of socialists – blocked poor children's path to a brighter future. Tracey Emin proved that a non-Establishment voice still had the power to make a mark on the cultural landscape - Lion Television Up to this point, the grammar had been the great social leveller. It ensured that British artistic talent was diverse: we had actors such as Eileen Atkins, artists such as David Hockney, and authors such as David Storey and Shelagh Delaney. Yes, as Britain boomed in the years that followed, the less privileged could still gain a foothold and make a decent living – an artist such as Tracey Emin proved that a non-Establishment voice still had the power to make a mark on the cultural landscape. And, superficially at least, efforts have been made to make the arts more diverse. Most big organisations now have outreach programmes in a bid to make culture less posh. But while this is laudable, granting someone access to culture isn't the same as helping them to pursue a career in it. In talking about this problem, we say 'working class' as a catch-all; but, in truth, it's no longer only working-class Britons who are being shut out from culture. If you're from a bog-standard middle-class family with a household salary of £35,000 – pretty much the national average – it's unlikely that you'll be able to afford the luxury of trying to write that novel or screenplay. There's a reason you don't hear of many playwrights who are the children of nurses or primary-school teachers. And experience bears this out: the vast majority of professionals I encounter in the arts are well-to-do. Time and again, I meet people with lovely, creative jobs and wonder: 'How on earth can you afford to live in West Hampstead?' And then the penny drops. English actress Eileen Atkins in 1966 - Evening Standard/If Labour were to blame for essentially destroying social mobility 50 years ago, then they are hardly making amends under Keir Starmer. Earlier this year, the Prime Minister did address the 'posh problem' in the arts when he acknowledged that almost half of British cultural stars nominated for an award over the past decade were privately educated. He also recognised that the UK creative industries are worth £1.25 billion to the economy, and pledged to make the arts more accessible. These are useful facts, but there has to be more than words. The problem is that nobody is joining up the dots here. The promised access will not necessarily materialise into any sort of career opportunities for those from a poorer background. Unless arts organisations or publishers can start to make starting salaries more attractive, culture will continue to be ruled by an elite minority. And the issue isn't simply one of money: introducing a new generation of youngsters from all backgrounds to art and literature will have benefits to them, and in due course, to older Britons too (in the culture they create). To keep pressing for this has never seemed more important, especially in a country where the arts in education, under the last Conservative government, were denuded. I hope The Bee, and projects like it, can succeed. Otherwise, effecting real change, and creating a meritocracy that cuts across class barriers in the way that it did until half a century ago, will forever feel like an impossible dream. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
New survey shows the extent of class privilege in UK journalism
UK journalism has a class problem. This statement will not surprise most people familiar with UK newsrooms. What is astonishing, though, is the scarcity of empirical data that could help us better understand the extent to which class inequality affects journalists and their work. For the first time, research by myy colleagues and me an for the report UK Journalists in the 2020s uses a representative sample of UK journalists to measure their socioeconomic background. The vast majority of our respondents came from a privileged background, measured by their schooling and by the job held by their main household earner when they were a child. Previous research on this issue was based on considerably more limited data. In July 2009, a report commissioned by the then Labour government found that journalism was one of two professions that had experienced the biggest decline in social mobility (the other being accountancy). Research by the Sutton Trust established repeatedly (most recently in 2019), that leading news editors, broadcasters and newspaper columnists are about six to seven times more likely to be privately educated than the general population, a typical marker for privilege in Britain. Some of the best data we have regarding UK journalists' social class was collected by the National Council for the Training of Journalists, who since 2017 has regularly published reports on the diversity among UK journalists. However, as the report's author Mark Spilsbury concedes, the findings have a considerable margin of error. The report uses data from the UK Government Labour Force Survey, and only extrapolates its figures for the small fraction of journalists within that workforce. Our report, for the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford, draws on a survey that media researchers Neil Thurman, Sina Thäsler-Kordonouri and I conducted between September 27 and November 30 2023. We used data from the 2021 Census for England, Wales, and Northern Ireland and from the Roxhill Media database to estimate the total number of UK journalists to be 68,279. Given how notoriously reluctant journalists are to respond to surveys, already swamped as they are with similar requests, we sent our questionnaire to 16,497 randomly selected participants. We considered journalists to be those who worked for a media outlet with an identifiable focus on news, and who earned at least 50% of their income from journalism or worked at least 50% of their working week as a journalist. To be included in our survey, respondents also needed to work for a news outlet with a UK base and that was aimed, at least in part, at a UK audience. After data cleaning, we retained a final sample of 1,130 respondents, a sufficient size to achieve a confidence level of at least 95% and a maximum error margin of 3%. Our survey is part of the international Worlds of Journalism Study, which uses the same core questionnaire across 75 countries. The survey covers a wide range of topics, including journalists' demographics, working conditions and their experience of safety and wellbeing. For the UK study, we added two questions regarding journalists' socioeconomic background. First, we asked what job the main earner in their households held when the respondents were 14 years old. Second, we asked about the school journalists attended: fee-paying private or state primary and secondary school, non-fee-paying selective secondary school (such as grammar school) or a school not in the UK. Want more politics coverage from academic experts? Every week, we bring you informed analysis of developments in government and fact check the claims being up for our weekly , delivered every Friday. The question on parents' occupation allowed respondents to write in the title of the relevant job. We coded the replies manually using the nine categories of the Office for National Statistics' 2020 Standard Occupational Classification. Seventy-one percent of journalists in our sample came from a privileged background, with the main earner in their childhood household holding a job within the three top categories of the classification. Only 12% of our respondents came from a working-class background (sales and customer service occupations; process, plant and machine operatives and elementary occupations). Read more: We lack the data for an outright comparison with the general population. But the 2021 census gives an indication. It shows that 23.3% of the main earner in all households in England and Wales held a job in the highest AB social grade, about equivalent to the top three categories in our classification. Nearly double (43.9%) fell into the social grade C2 and DE, roughly equivalent with our bottom three categories. Journalists' privilege also shows in their schooling. Twenty-two percent of journalists in our sample attended a fee-paying secondary, and 13% attended a fee-paying primary school. Around 6% of the general pupil population in England attends private schools, and fewer in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Our data does not suggest that a privileged upbringing makes it more likely for journalists to hold a top management position. Where it does make a difference, though, is whether they work for national media or outlets with international presence (like the Guardian or the Financial Times). Of those who do only 9% come from a working-class background, while 72% come from a privileged one (the rest come from the middle groups in our classification). In contrast, 20% of journalists working for local and regional outlets (including regional arms of national outlets, such as BBC Wales) have a working-class background, and 57% grew up in a more privileged household. Our survey also shows other areas of inequality. An interesting one is age. Both women and journalists from an ethnic minority background seem to drop out of the profession after the age of 50. Journalists with an Asian or Black background in particular remain underrepresented compared to the overall population, as they were in 2015. Female journalists are also still less well paid, less likely to have a permanent contract or to hold a top management role than their male colleagues. They also more often report feeling stressed out. Their disadvantage against their male colleagues may well be a reason. One reason for the privileged background of so many journalists will be that journalism has become a thoroughly academic profession. Nine out of ten journalists in our sample were university educated. In an increasingly complex world, there may be good reasons for those who report on it to undergo an academic training. However, as some scholars have argued, trust in journalism not only depends on accurate and reliable reporting, but also on emotional and social factors that are essential for the relationship between journalists and audiences. Given the lack of trust in news and rising news avoidance among UK audiences, the inequalities our report found should be of concern. If journalists are found to belong to a privileged elite they are less likely to be trusted by the general public. Reliable data on the inequalities that shape the journalism profession is a necessary start to tackle this problem. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Imke Henkel does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
