ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on social disadvantage and social mobility in the UK and how people, particularly young people, can be helped to overcome the immediate and apparent constraints of income, educational achievement, upbringing, and place. Social mobility is a measure of how free people are to improve their position in society. It matters for both fairness and for economic growth. In the context of young people, an early indicator for social mobility is attainment, in particular academic attainment whilst at school, and how this prepares individuals for higher education and higher levels of employment. It is also the case that in promoting social mobility careers professionals realise the importance of overcoming a range of limiting factors. These range from individual to individual, but often appear for whole groups of individuals, whether through stereotypes in the case of gender, race, social class, or lack of positive extended family role models.
