We need action

The social mobility narrative for London is incomplete and poorly understood. We call upon business, statutory organisations, employers, educators, thought-leaders, and charitable partners to work together more closely and effectively.
MFL_Access Aspiration
MFL_Kitchen Social
MFL_Access Aspiration
Build a stronger consensus of London’s social mobility status.

At the moment, the accepted wisdom is that London is a social mobility engine that works for everyone who puts their mind to it.

We know the reality is much more nuanced and complex.

Driving better metrics and insights will help shape more targeted and effective action.

Example actions include:

  • Working more closely with statutory organisations to develop a social mobility data tracking set. This would allow the identification of cold spots of investment in areas of high need;
  • Cross-sector campaigns to drive awareness of how to better prepare young Londoners for the world of work and help them develop as leaders in our city. Investing in our future generation at a young age means an opportunity to help drive aspiration and self-belief;
  • Investors in London’s social infrastructure to submit their funding data to the 360Giving platform.
Drive more targeted, coordinated action.

London’s ecosystem of support is highly fragmented. Austerity has significantly impacted on local council budgets for youth provision, and on school budgets for enrichment activities, whilst corporate giving is often driven by internal CSR strategies.

As a result, London sees a geographic mismatch in needs and youth provision relevant to social mobility. We believe there needs to a much better mechanism to guide investment and behaviour change. This includes:

  • More early-years investment to help connect children and young people to London’s intricate tapestry of culture, connections, and opportunities;
  • Recognise and publicise good practice of those stakeholders who provide a comprehensive approach to social mobility by promoting aspiration, awareness, ability and access to opportunities;
  • Employers across London to promote social mobility at CEO level and give it equal footing to other diversity and inclusion priorities to drive a widening of the talent pool, change culture and shift away from volunteering to mentorship;
  • Creation of a central database of apprenticeship and work experience opportunities to enable a city-wide approach to better levy usage.