To think social mobility is impossible for working class /lower middle class kids?

[Cheeriosay]

And if it is possible how?! I feel the prospect of social mobility is at an all time low for teens/young adults due to the educational crisis in schools, cost of living crisis & lack of opportunity to move up in the world. This was relatively easy years ago either through education, marriage (or both).. Now it's not going to be as easy for teens & young adults who want to climb the social ladder.
I'm putting it bluntly, I'm sure some posters will be on soon to say these teens should know their place & not be getting ideas above their station but sod that!

People won't say that people should know thier place. They will give examples of people who have been socially mobile and say therefore it is possible and if so and so can do it, anyone can.

But there are lots of reports saying social mobility has declined significantly and we are fairly low in international rankings.

Social mobility has reduced a lot in a very short time. It is awful really.

Property prices are a big part of it, it is so hard now to buy a property and therefore get the stability that brings unless on above-average salaries or in receipt of family support.

YANBU.

Without help from parents social mobility will be increasingly rare.

There are loads of schemes now for kids who don't come from the usual background for a particular industry and many internships are only for "socially mobile" candidates.

I actually think it's the next level up who will struggle - their parents may have gone to university but they don't do high-flying jobs and don't have contacts to help them.

Those with the contacts will do just fine.

I predict this generation of kids and young adults will not be working class or middle class. There will merely be those that come from the property owning class and those that don't, very few will be able to move into the first from the latter.

I agree...the housing crisis/situation is probably just as big a hindrance as anything else. First as a teenager (harder to study in a shared room/without a table etc) then as a young adult when you can't afford to rent in London where all the internships are. Or if you do manage, then when you get a bit older and can maybe afford to buy a house it's somewhere cheaper/further away from a big city which limits your job opportunities.

I do think that it is very hard now to move from working to middle class. But then it also depends on how you define it. Is it by the job you do, the money you have, the circles you move in, confidence, education?

I am not sure I'm understanding your post. But I'm working glass a single mum. Both my Dds did well at school bought up in London one went to Bristol uni the other Manchester. It was a struggle both had to work part time jobs there way through. They both have great jobs now and mix in all types of circles. One has a boyfriend who would be classed as upper class the other works in an environment were many went to private school. They do not feel out of place. the importance iI installed thay they are no less or better then anyone else and can archive what ever they want too. I'm not saying it's not harder in life but there shouldn't be boundaries on who they will mix with or what they will achieve.

I think grammar schools were supposed to achieve this for bright working-class and lower-middle-class kids. And to an extent they did, when grammar schools were all across the country instead of just in little privileged pockets here and there, where it now costs a fortume to buy a house. I teach in a rare grammar school that isn't in a rich area. I think we still achieve social mobility for some of our working-class girls. Aspirations are high, and some of them go on to have amazing careers.

I agree op. There will be plenty along to say how they ‘worked their way up the social / career / property ladder’ and good for them. But things have changed out of recognition over the last twenty years and the situation is so different these days. The matter of property ownership is the main problem. Too many second home owners / landlords / opportunists and not enough help for young people. All very well building more houses but when half of them are snapped up by wealthy property investors it just means fewer are available for young people.

Grammar schools are proven to stand in the way of social mobility.

What is going on for all the other 'working class girls' who are not in your small niche closed school?

It's not impossible but it is harder.

I think it starts from good schooling and a supportive home. I’m not sure the environment is great for some kids these days. I also think we need a well regarded alternative to education. Things like recognition of master craftsman status like in germany.

We have narrowed the opportunities to move forward I think. Our schools are too geared towards higher education so loads of kids spend a lot of money on degrees that will never see them earning much. If we said “another option is ….” We just don’t build enough houses full stop.

I think we also have to stop pretending that gifted isn’t a thing. People feel very uncomfortable about the idea that some people are very able by dint of genetic lottery. There are working class kids who aren’t getting the focused attention they need to achieve their potential. I would say bring back G&T programs so regardless of where you are in the country and which school you go to you get support and direction.

What makes you say this? The decline has happened under the Tory government of the last 14 years. Blaming it on a government in power for the last 4 months doesn't make sense.

I'm sorry but 🤣🤣🤣

Not worth wasting your fingers typing a response to

Inequality is the worst it has been since Victorian times. This video 90 second explains exactly why
www.facebook.com/share/v/c3f1JrqPHU1NmfGd/

DH grew up in council housing in a wc area. He left school with not many qualifications and started a trade. He bought his first house in his early 20s , and started his own business when he was about 30.
If I point out that it was partly luck (that property prices were comparably much lower) he gets very defensive and says its because he worked really hard. He absolutely did work really hard but the point is, someone in the same position now wouldn't have the same opportunity.

It is difficult (as it always has been) but not impossible. I actually think for someone very driven, the opportunities are better than ever. But for the majority, who benefit from having a certain amount handed to them or accessible without effort, not.

On the other hand...there has been a redistribution of wealth such that a moderately successful tradesperson can make a better living than many professionals without needing academic education or preferment. And AI poses less long term threat to their livelihood and lifestyle.

Gen Z and young millennials yes we have it harder and I don't think social mobility is a big thing anymore, it's more about what you've inherited or what you will inherit

I actually think for someone very driven, the opportunities are better than ever. All research shows this is not the case. Harder now than in the 60s/70s/80s to make it from the bottom.

Actually I think they would! Because although property prices have risen, so have the incomes of tradespeople. I see the builder and plumber fathers in my son's class buying houses where teachers and physiotherapists can't.

Actually I was chatting with one who went to university and worked in IT but when they came to the UK he can make more money as a builder, so that is what he does.