Nick Clegg launches commission on Social Mobility

10.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Fri 4th Jan 2008

Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg is to establish an independent Commission on Social Mobility, to be chaired by Martin Narey, Chief Executive of Barnardo's and the Chair of the End Child Poverty Coalition. The commission will investigate the reasons for Britain's apparently low levels of social mobility and recommend policy changes to enable children from disadvantaged backgrounds to fulfil their full potential. Current evidence suggests that social mobility is currently lower in the UK than in most western democracies.

Nick Clegg said "In 2007, a child born into deprivation is more likely to inherit his or her parents' disadvantage than at any time in our recent past. It is utterly unacceptable that by the age of seven, a bright but poor child will be overtaken at school by a child who was struggling in pre-school years but is from a more affluent background. I want to know why it is that Britain's low levels of social mobility compare unfavourably with almost every other developed nation. Children should be free to realise their aspirations and not be held back by the circumstances of their birth."