Social Mobility

[Chil1234]

Plans upcoming today from the government about improving life-chances and social mobility. What's held you back or given you a leg up in the past? And what do you think would most improve your social mobility going forward?

My 'leg-up' would be having parents with high expectations and access to the grammar school system. If anything held me back it was the lack of good contacts and poor careers advice.

SardineQueen - the sad thing is, he was glad to get it. Now moved on to a 'better' job in a warehouse which might just get him the minimum wage (except when it snows - when he just didn't get paid - what kind of contract is that?).

I have been edged out by casualisation of my skilled job, interns doing parts for free, poorer wages, no job security, redundancy. Am doing a second degree and then seeking employment. At the moment I am desperate for a job in a call centre as it offers evening and weekend work around the kids. There are no vacancies in my city. 0.

DP and I are downwardly mobile. Not drastically, but we will not be as wealthy as our parents (who were working class, ended up professionals, good pensions etc etc)

Am tempted to say to NormanTebbit: get on yer bike! But won't.

This downward mobility is a direct consequence of Tebbit et al's rightwing policies...but I risk sounding repetitive....

Oh I love cycling.

My parents were extremely pedantic (in my native language), I noticed early on that having a good use of the language could really help you being taken seriously. Second and third languages have helped, more as an accessory as I have never got to use them all working for the same employer. Studying abroad/good university has got me some extra points

What has held me down? the belief that family comes before my job. (Although I have been steadily learning over the last few years that the best way to scupper your children is not to take your job seriously).

Things that held me back:

1.being taught in a classroom where most - the large majority - of the class were struggling to even pass. Many behavioural problems, learning difficulties etc, all taught in the same class.
Makes it very difficult to get the highest grades when you are competing against pupils in private/grammar/rich areas where the majority of the class are expected to get the highest grades. Even now, many years later, I feel my grades still hold me back.

1. Shrinking economy means that jobs in my field are drying up. The job has become a series of short term contracts, you have to keep moving around the country, I may possibly move abroad as things are going from bad to worse and there is such a lack of opportunity.

1. Minimum wage must be enforced. Volunteers/unpaid interns should not be in a profit making company or public services provision. This is a serious issue and I know personally several people who have had to do this, and it has kept them in poverty when they and their children could have been helped out of it just for the want of a minimum wage.

What plans for social mobility? What are they? Would that be the charging £9k for Uni fees he is talking about ?

Things that helped:

1. Education Education Education: The thing that got me out of my sink estate (lovely people though), into a really good uni, and into a professional job.

There wasnt EMA in my day, but this would have really helped me as it would have meant I could afford the bus to go to a better school for A levels.

1. Supportive mum who had the right priorities for us. - good food, sleep, spent money on sports and educational activities not the latest designer trainers/shell suit etc (as much as I wanted them at the time!).

1. affordable/free extra-curricular activities. These gave us structured, useful ways to spend our time, learning things, expanding our horizons. Many of them were provided through the council and non-profit organisations, some of them we even earned a bit of pocket money (this is fantastic as a child).

1. Readily available jobs: I temped every holiday I had from university. This was essential as the loan didnt cover all my living costs, I had to earn an extra £1000 every year.

Lego - He seems to be saying 'it shouldnt be who you know, it should be what you know'.

i.e. go to uni, get into £44,000 worth of debt, and then we'll look at you for an unpaid internship.

I am very disappointed by this latest announcement - clearly not a clue between the bunch of them. Idiots. Serves us right for allowing a bunch of millionaires to rule it over us.

FFS. Everyone seems to be missing the point. What we should be looking at is why private schools do so much better, and how we can learn from that in the state sector. I imagine discipline is quite a factor. In fact, education without discipline is probably tricky. Instead of wittering on about how poor and left out we are, perhaps we should be looking at if we are employable. Many, many young people today have been let down by themselves...it's time to stop blaming other people;look to ourselves. As parents we should be backing schools and enforcing good life attitudes at home. yes it's hard, but sadly, there are too many parents trying to be mates with their children; this is causing a night-mare, with young people trying to get into the world of business thinking they are very important. They are not. Time to re-focus. Social mobility should come from parents not social engineering.

FFS. Everyone seems to be missing the point. What we should be looking at is why private schools do so much better, and how we can learn from that in the state sector. I imagine discipline is quite a factor.

Possibly it is but class sizes half those in the public sector also help, rich pushy parents come into it as well.

BTW can anyone justify Private schools being "charities"

To answer the question-

things that have helped me-
1-getting a v good education (private secondary then rg uni)
2-being an only child so getting to do loys of extra-curricular activities
3- having own space in house to do homework
4- having mum who always worked so I never expected to do otherwise
5-having English as my first language
6- being white (cant pretend racism doesnt exist)

things that have held me back-
1-being at a selective school meant that I didn't realise how smart I was so didnt have the confidence I might have if I had went to a more representative school.
2- my parents hadn't been to uni and weren't in nor had friends in professional careers so I didn't have much info on career choices
3- as above my parents couldnt help me with homework in later years so I was at a disadvantage compared to children of teachers/professors
4-I was given very bad careers advice by school.
6-I didn't start to learn a MFL until I was 12 and never really caught up.
7- being a woman (direct discrimination still exists)

"What we should be looking at is why private schools do so much better, and how we can learn from that in the state sector."

Yep Ive just had a look. Its because they are selective. They only select those whose rich enough parents care enough to pay huge sums.

We have some selective schools in the state system, they are called grammar schools. Yes they "do so much better". Mission accomplished.

If Clegg is serious about encouraging social mobility, he needs to speak with his colleagues in the coalition about the auctioning off of internships at Conservative Party dinners

Getting on can be blind luck. I was a PA to a design/sales consultant who was involved in a big city project, he left at short notice and I was asked to "keep the project moving" until they could replace him.

I refused to do this unless I was given the chance to replace him and if we got the order I would be given the sales commission.

Three months (or so) later I had the order and the job and my first commission payment and an almost doubling of salary.

Blind luck and a bolshie attitude :)

A massive hindrance actually was lack of available, good, affordable childcare. My mother had a professional job but had to quit when the childcare was not available, meaning we then lived in poverty :(

Nice one newwave. I must work on my bolshie attitude

Darlene - I also came across quite severe discrimination as a woman. It was a massive shock, that this still existed.
Hurray for femininsm, but there is still a lot to do.

1. Very expensive private education
2. Oxbridge
3. Well-connected parents
4. Well-connected peer group from 1 and 2.

Never had to try really.

What's not to like?

nepkoztarsasag

Indeed from your point of view what is not to like.

However would you consider it morally wrong that you had life chances not open to others or do you think it was your right due to your families position in society.

TSC, I doubt you will get an answer, I suspect this person is a troll wanting to provoke a reaction.

The present cabinet have; scrapped EMA and sure start, increased tuition fees to eye watering levels; pricing out a whole generation, introduced disability denial factories, introduced social cleansing measures, are in the process of laying off 750K civil servants, have ensured 300K more workers will be in the 40% tax bracket, have battered child tax credits...all these measures have kicked away the ladder of opportunity for the bulk of the next generation ensuring that nepotism, position and contacts will be more important than meritocracy for your child to progress and then they have the fucking cheek to talk about social mobility when they've demolished it inside months... They are taking the piss with this one they really are.

The government must be forced out or society will suffer for decades from the damage caused.