Five generations ‘to reach average income’
Image copyright Getty ImagesSocial mobility is so frozen that it would take five generations for a poorer family in the UK to reach the average income, an OECD report says.
The economics think tank says income inequality has widened since the 1990s, with high earners accelerating ahead.
Those born before 1975 had much more chance of social mobility than those born afterwards, the study says.
"Too many people feel they are being left behind," the OECD's chief of staff, Gabriela Ramos, says.
The international study, A Broken Social Elevator?, says high earners are getting bigger rewards and consolidating wealth for the next generations.
It also says those at the bottom of the ladder are finding it increasingly difficult to help their families catch up - with social mobility declining.
Lost age of mobility
For those people born between 1955 and 1975, the research says, social mobility was a "reality", with people born into low-income families able to move up in terms of education and earnings.
But the OECD study suggests much less mobility for the current generation. It says Nordic countries have more social mobility than countries such as the UK and the US, but it becomes even worse in southern Europe.
In the UK, it indicates, only about a fifth of the children of low-income families go on to become high earners - while about half of children from wealthy families become high earners.
Almost three-quarters of the children of graduates in the UK go to university - compared with a fifth of children from low-income families.
And among the children of parents with manual jobs in the UK, only about a quarter will get managerial jobs.
Invest in training
The study says that "intergenerational mobility is relatively low in the United Kingdom, particularly in terms of earnings and education".
It says actions that could help to promote social mobility would be to:
- invest more in training for work skills
- tackle low-quality, insecure zero-hour jobs
- improve the "bargaining power" of employees
The researchers say that high property prices in the UK are a particular barrier - stopping people from entering the housing market and also discouraging families from moving home to get better jobs.
