Social Mobility: And Its Enemies (Pelican Books)

by Lee Elliot Major

In no developed country for which we have data is there evidence that early-years centres, schools or colleges consistently reduce attainment gaps, and life prospects, between the rich and poor.11 The education system at best acts as a counter-balance to the powerful forces outside the school gates driving bigger education gaps between the advantaged and disadvantaged. The pattern observed is an ever-escalating educational arms race in which the poorest children are hopelessly ill-equipped to fight, and where the increasingly rich rewards go to the offspring of the social elites. Far from acting as a leveller, the education system has been exploited to retain advantage from one generation to the next.