The Social Mobility Foundation

📢 "The grocery sector needs to step up its social mobility game." 📰 Read our CEO Sarah Atkinson's call for a fairer food industry - and how one supermarket is leading the way ⤵️ https://lnkd.in/exCt7d5K

Recent polling by More in Common suggests the public think that EDI is a good thing - with one big reservation. They want to see social class included. And no wonder. Fairness and equality of opportunity are core British values. Ensuring that our institutions - our universities, our workplaces, our government - are accessible to people of all backgrounds is essential if we are to maintain trust in them. And our society and economy benefit when opportunity is available to all, regardless of your postcode or your parents’ connections.   That's why there’s broad support for targets and quotas in our workplaces based on socioeconomic background. Young people - with their careers ahead of them - feel this even more strongly. Three quarters of them want EDI schemes to include class, according to polling by The Social Mobility Foundation, the charity that I chair.   Working-class people are subject to a disadvantage gap in education that becomes a class pay gap in the workplace. They remain underrepresented in competitive jobs and at senior levels. Talent is everywhere, but opportunity is not.   The results of the 9th Social Mobility Employer Index are published today. The employers that enter are leaders in creating workplaces that are open to all, regardless of background. Year-on-year, they are measuring their socioeconomic makeup and class pay gaps in growing numbers. And they’re using the Index’s expert feedback to address the disparities they find, becoming more representative, innovative, successful organisations in the process.   Because improving social mobility isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s good for business. A greater focus on social mobility by employers could add up to £19 billion to annual GDP, according to research by Demos and Co-op.   Many more employers need a plan to address social mobility. Otherwise, they risk missing out on the best talent.   Entering the Index is the best place to start: https://lnkd.in/e96bHa_t More in Common's research: https://lnkd.in/efvM8MBc

Congratulations to this year’s Top 75 in the 2025 Social Mobility Employer Index! 🎉 Each and all of the employers who join the Index are leaders in building workplaces where potential comes first. Explore this year’s Index and join the movement because wherever you are on your social mobility journey, the Index will propel you forward 🚀 #SMFIndex25, #SocialMobility Learn more 👇 https://lnkd.in/eDNunVQZ

We’re hiring a Fundraising Manager to help us drive sustainable income growth and build high-impact partnerships with trusts, foundations and corporate partners 🤝 Apply before 2nd November to join our friendly, ambitious team working across the UK. https://lnkd.in/eFXfZYGi

We’re releasing the Social Mobility Employer Index this week. The Index is open to everyone, wherever you are on your social mobility journey. Through the Index, you can unlock your organisation’s potential. #SMFIndex25 #SocialMobility Learn more 👇 https://lnkd.in/eDNunVQZ

It’s less than a week now until the release of the Social Mobility Employer Index 2025.   Every year, the Index helps employers across the country to turn their values into action, building workplaces where potential comes first.   Learn more 👇 https://lnkd.in/eDNunVQZ

✅ CAMPAIGN WIN: The NHS has started collecting socioeconomic background data for its workforce Medicine is one of the most socioeconomically unequal professions in the UK Having a parent with a professional occupation makes you 6 times more likely to become a doctor than if they have a working-class job 🧑⚕️ We’re campaigning for all large employers to collect and publish socioeconomic background data for their workforces, including the NHS And the 2025 NHS Staff Survey includes questions about socioeconomic background for the first time 🙌 This will reveal the barriers preventing people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds getting in and getting on, so they can be broken down Results will be published in spring 2026. Watch this space. 👀

New jobs for someone passionate about helping young people to thrive 🚀 We're hiring two Liverpool-based coordinators to help run our life-changing student programme 🌟 Apply by 16th October to join our team. Link to apply in the comments 👇

What’s the single strongest predictor of who reaches senior leadership in financial services? Socioeconomic background. Progress Together's new report shows that while socioeconomic data collection rates are up in the sector, the barriers for people from working-class backgrounds are as big as ever: ✅ The dataset is the largest of its kind globally, expanding to cover over 200,000 employees and 40 employers ✅ 92% of member firms now collect socioeconomic background data, up from 75% two years ago ✅ Two thirds of employees now answer the key question about socioeconomic background, up from 47% in 2023 ❌ Employees from lower socioeconomic backgrounds take NEARLY TWO YEARS longer to move from middle to senior roles than their peers from higher socioeconomic backgrounds. ❌ There’s a double disadvantage for workers from multiple underrepresented groups. OVER HALF OF FIRMS HAD NO SENIOR LEADERS AT ALL from ethnic minority, lower socioeconomic backgrounds ❌ Only 26% of senior leaders come from lower socioeconomic backgrounds vs 39% in the UK workforce We have the data. Now we need change. Businesses that want to become social mobility leaders should join our Social Mobility Employer Index for practical advice on how to become more representative, innovative and successful. Read the report ⤵️ https://lnkd.in/emCdMk4k