Social mobility

Social mobility is a big deal in debates about social policy. However, it is tied to notions of equality of opportunity and individual responsibility for upward mobility that tend to marginalise the significance of inequalities in condition and the lack of movement towards the top of society for social circulation. Despite growing concerns about the availability of opportunities for large sections of society, the political economy continues to respond to and foster individualism in society. The social mobility agenda, therefore, plays a role in delegitimising alternative (and more egalitarian) conceptions of the social contract. It is argued that the nature of social mobility (and a tendency towards a post-democratic social contract) in England is more significant for social policy design than social policy design is for social mobility policy.