Social mobility describes how easily people can move between social or economic positions across their lives or between generations, and it reflects whether someone’s background limits their opportunities.

In a society with high social mobility, a person’s class, region, accent, or family income has little bearing on the education they receive, the jobs they can access, or the income they can earn. In a society with low mobility, these factors strongly predict life outcomes, meaning advantage and disadvantage are passed down, rather than earned.

What is social mobility?

Social mobility can be understood through a few core distinctions.

Intra-generational and inter-generational mobility

One important distinction is between intra‑generational mobility (how a person’s social position changes within their own lifetime) and inter‑generational mobility (how far someone’s outcomes differ from those of their parents). Inter-generational mobility also varies by, among other things:

  • gender – different generations of women have experienced different mobility opportunities compared with men as women’s participation in education and the workplace has changed
  • ethnicity – different generations of different ethnic groups have experienced different mobility opportunities
  • geographical location – different generations of people from different parts of the UK have experienced different mobility opportunities due to changes in business and industry

These topics have been covered by The Sutton Trust, notably in its 2025 report Crossing Paths and by the Social Mobility Commission (SMC) in its State of the Nation reports.

Absolute and relative mobility

Researchers also separate absolute mobility (the share of people who move between social classes) from relative mobility (how likely someone from a given class is to reach the top compared with others).

Individual and structural mobility

Another important distinction is between individual mobility, which is where movement is zero‑sum (one person moves up only if another moves down), and structural mobility, which occurs when changes in the economy create new opportunities (for example, when industrial societies shift toward white‑collar, service‑sector work).

Occupational and income-based mobility

Finally, scholars analyse mobility using different measures: sociologists such as John Goldthorpe and Erzsébet Bukodi focus on occupational class, while economists like Jo Blanden and Steve Machin emphasise income‑based mobility.

What can cause (or maintain) low social mobility?

The drivers of social mobility are the background conditions that make social mobility possible. Drivers of social mobility include factors like childhood conditions (such as parents’ education and occupation levels), and work opportunities for young people.

Structural inequalities that compound over time

Low social mobility is largely maintained by structural inequalities that begin early in life and compound over time. Children from disadvantaged backgrounds are more likely to attend under‑resourced schools, live in areas with fewer high‑quality jobs and have limited access to professional networks; these are all factors shown to restrict upward movement.

Research from the Institute for Fiscal Studies and the Social Mobility Commission consistently highlights how regional inequality, school funding gaps, and unequal access to social capital create long‑lasting barriers. The Sutton Trust’s work on educational disadvantage further shows that early‑life disparities strongly predict adult outcomes.

Regional accents and social mobility

Research has suggested that regional accents potentially play a substantial role in influencing everyday life in the UK. They can quietly open doors (or firmly close them) in ways that have nothing to do with talent, intelligence or potential. Some stakeholders have argued that accent bias is one of the country’s most persistent, least visible barriers to social mobility, shaping who gets heard, who gets hired and who gets ahead.

The UK’s ‘accent hierarchy’

For decades, accents have acted as a proxy for class and background, creating what researchers describe as an ‘accent hierarchy’.

Received Pronunciation (RP), sometimes referred to as the ‘Queen’s English’ or the ‘King’s English’, has long been associated with authority and professionalism. RP continues to dominate elite fields such as law, politics, and broadcasting.

Regional and working‑class accents, including those from Liverpool, Birmingham, Manchester and London (‘Cockney’), are routinely judged as less competent or less professional, regardless of a person’s actual ability.

Minority ethnic accents can also face similar prejudice, often being unfairly linked with lower status or weaker communication skills.

These patterns mirror broader findings on how place and background shape opportunity. For example, research on regional mobility shows stark differences in life chances across the UK, with upbringing strongly tied to adult outcomes.

How accent bias can block social mobility

Accent discrimination may affect individuals’ confidence, career opportunities and long-term trajectories.

Accent anxiety

Over a third of professionals with regional accents report feeling judged at work and actively modify how they speak to sound “more professional”. This aligns with wider evidence showing that regional background continues to influence occupational outcomes.

Workplace gatekeeping

Studies from organisations such as the Sutton Trust have long documented informal “poshness tests” in elite professions, where candidates with regional accents are subtly filtered out. This echoes broader findings that regional disadvantage persists across former industrial and mining areas.

Pressure to ‘fix’ your voice

Many professionals feel compelled to take elocution lessons not for clarity, but to bypass conscious or unconscious bias.

Breaking down accent bias barriers

Many organisations now recognise accent bias as a structural issue rather than a personal failing and have instituted several measures to counteract this bias. These aim to shift attention from how something is said to the information that is being communicated.

Competency‑based hiring

The Social Mobility Commission advocates for recruitment that focuses on what candidates can do, not how they sound.

Bias training for interviewers

Structured interviewer training helps decision‑makers to recognise and challenge their own assumptions.

Better measurement of mobility

New regional social mobility data highlights where opportunity is flourishing and where it is still blocked.

Further reading

A range of organisations have published research examining social mobility in the UK:

Commons Library resources

The Commons Library has interactive dashboards that provide information on social mobility-related subjects, broken down by constituency:

Geographical areas of high social mobility, and low social mobility

The Social Mobility Commission published social mobility by area data (18 December 2025) for England as part of its State of the Nation 2025 report.

Social mobility data for 205 local authorities can be viewed.

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