A chance to address some basic needs

Jan 19 2009 by Kevin Rowan, The Journal

IT might seem odd in the earliest phases of an economic downturn to be focusing on social mobility, for many workers and their families simply staying in the position they are in now, maintaining their income, stopping their home from being repossessed and keeping the wolf from the door is the major priority.

At the same time, perhaps, one of the ‘opportunities’ that this particular economic environment appears to be affording us is the chance to have a good look at how the economy and society works, or doesn’t, and to try to fix what’s not working.

The truth is, as has been evidenced in the announcement of the White Paper on Social Mobility last week, this remains a real challenge.

For a government that promotes itself as a champion of equality of opportunity this, one would think, should and hopefully will be a key area of public policy.

To say this is overdue would be a massive understatement. It would be trite and inaccurate to suggest that the vast majority of families in the UK aren’t increasingly better off. They are, in terms of income or health or quality of life, significantly better off than the generation before.

There remains, however, a seemingly obstinate challenge to address the gap between those that are doing increasingly well and those who continue to be underserved, polarised and excluded from social and economic progress.

If you were to place a ‘poverty map’ of the UK in 1900 over the UK today, you would see pretty much exactly the same areas that were in extreme poverty at the start of the last century now defined as ‘deprived’ communities. Serious efforts to address this repeated, persistent inequality must be welcomed.

The consequences of ongoing inequality and poverty are very tough on those families – ill-health, poor aspiration or ambition, lower life chances and a legacy of continuing poverty for their children to come.

Much of the White Paper focuses on efforts to raise aspiration and enabling community regeneration funding, both key to improving ambition, with specific measures to support parents and carers back to work, backed up by extra investment in childcare, plus an interesting idea to encourage the best teachers to work in deprived areas by offering a £10k golden handcuff.

Tackling inequality of economic opportunity will be the key to success here.

There is simply too big a gap between those who do well and those who struggle to get by. Evidence does show that overall level of income is a key factor in social mobility and there is much experience of the lowest paid almost adopting a cultural inertia to progressing out of the bottom rungs of the labour market, fed by a practical incapacity to progress, through lack of investment in learning and skills, poor health and lack of control over their own time, all directly associated with low pay and poverty wages. Addressing these ‘basic’ needs of the lowest paid could be a major contributor to social mobility.

Serious efforts to address this repeated, persistent inequality must be welcomed