Class divides remain
Thursday, 13 Dec 2007 10:11
Bright children from poor families are overtaken by less intelligent classmates from wealthier backgrounds.
Bright children from poor backgrounds in England and Wales are the least likely to escape their upbringing in the world, according to new research.
A study from the London School of Economics and Surrey University found the UK is at the bottom of the international league for social mobility and that children born in deprived backgrounds are no more likely to emerge from poverty than they were 30 years ago.
The research comes after children's minister Ed Balls announced a ten-year Children's Plan which includes a further £1 billion of funding to improve the education and welfare of poor pupils.
Sir Peter Lampl, chairman of the Sutton Trust, which funded the research, commented: "Britain remains stuck at the bottom of the international league tables when it comes to social mobility. It is appalling that young people's life chances are still so tied to the fortunes of their parents and that this situation has not improved over the last three decades.
"We need a radical review of our approach to improving social mobility, starting with an independent commission to review the underlying causes for our low level of mobility and what can be done to address it."
The researchers found that children born into the poorest families in 2000 are by now being overtaken in cognitive test scores by less intelligent children from wealthier backgrounds.
The authors explained: "Those from the poorest fifth of households but in the brightest group at age three drop from the 88th percentile on cognitive tests at three to the 65th percentile at age five.
"Those from the richest households who are least able at age three move up from the 15th percentile to the 45th percentile by age five. If this trend continued these children from affluent backgrounds would be likely to overtake the poorer, but initially bright, children in test scores by age seven."
The report concluded that "parental background continues to exert a significant influence on the academic progress of recent generations of children".
Beverley Hughes, minister for children, young people and families, said: "Closing the affluence gap in education is a top priority for this government and we have made encouraging recent progress.
"This new research is based on the Millennium Cohort born in 2000-01," she added. "It's far too early to say what will happen to those young people over their lifetime. Those children have yet to enter key stages two, three and four, where overall standards are continuing to rise and poverty gaps have narrowed since 2003.
"We can only tackle deprivation and poverty by changing the aspirations of young people, their parents and the education system. We have always known that parents are the most important factor in a child's educational achievement. The Children's Plan shows fresh determination to help families support their children."