#social-mobility

#social-mobility

More than 60 students at a state school in one of London's most deprives boroughs have been offered places at Oxford and Cambridge universities. The stunning achievement marks a record success for the London Academy of Excellence, known as the Eton of the East End, which made sixth place in this year's Sunday Times league tables. Students at the selective academy in Stratford, Newham, received 23 offers from Oxford and 39 from Cambridge. An additional four students have secured places on Cambridge foundation courses.

Around the turn of the 21st century, the U.K. witnessed a dramatic surge in housing prices: the costs rose from four times peoples' annual earnings in 1995, to eight times by 2010. Homeowners subsequently enjoyed a wealth windfall, and it resulted in their kids receiving more housing wealth and higher-paying jobs, according to recent research from the Institute for Fiscal Studies. Lower-income renters, on the other hand, were faced with new affordability challenges.

We have a government that talks quite a lot about social mobility, but mainly about individuals often about [the] social mobility of themselves or their colleagues," Francis said. "But what we don't have is a coherent approach to social mobility as a useful concept that you can build a strategy around.

Keir Starmer has no coherent strategy to tackle entrenched inequalities harming the life chances of millions of people, the government's social mobility commissioner has said. A major official report warned last week that young adults in Britain's former industrial heartlands were being left behind as a result of failed or abandoned promises by successive governments. The Social Mobility Commission (SMC), a government advisory body, said big cities such as Manchester, Edinburgh and Bristol were starting to thrive. In a Guardian interview, the commission's chair, Alun Francis, urged Starmer to outline a bold vision to tackle the defining social mobility challenge of our generation.

I'm Brazilian, and I haven't seen nearly enough of my own country. While it's hard to admit, I know I'm not alone. Travel within Brazil was not accessible to most Brazilians until the economic boom during the Lula administration in the 2000s. Throughout that period, between 30 and 40 million Brazilians moved out of poverty and into the middle class. As things began to change, I, along with millions of people who couldn't do so before, got to travel.

And I'm not just talking about random life events, like winning the lottery, I'm thinking about luck in the broader sense of the circumstances into which each of us is born. It took me a while to realise that my journey through life has been eased by several tailwinds. I have had the incredible luck of being born in the UK, in a peaceful period of history.

Middlesex University Needyanand Raya arrived in London from Mauritius in 1999 to complete his master's degree. He was bearing a promise he made his father - to continue his studies "until there will be no examination beyond that to take". More than two decades later, he's now Dr Raya, having completed a doctorate in social policy at the age of 69 at Middlesex University. When asked how he felt about it? "Well, nothing much. It's just an achievement of a lifetime."

It's no secret that knowing the right people can open doors. Now, Gen Zers are attempting to get a fast-track ticket to success by dating people in high places-or "throning," as the viral trend is being called. The new slang term essentially means dating someone who boosts your social status, and nearly 30% of singletons have been using it as a leg up the hierarchy, according to the dating app Plenty of Fish.