Social mobility 'decreased under Labour'
Updated on 09 May 2007
The latest figures on life chances or social mobility show that poor kids are staying poor and more rich kids are staying rich.
Take 30-something men in 1991, a third of those whose parents were in the poorest quarter of the income scale remain in the poorest quarter.
Just 17 per cent have made it from there into the richest quarter; conversely, of those whose background was from the richest families, a third stayed there and 17 per cent became poor, but by 2007, the situation deteriorates.
More of those from poor backgrounds stay poor and even more rich stay in that top income bracket.
This trend of low and declining social mobility is unique in the industrialised world to Britain. But the academic who crafted Tony Blair's third way philosophy says that you cant pin that on the PM.
Blacon High was an underachieving school well away from the leafier parts of Chester. This year it became a specialist sports college.
It is exactly the type of school targeted by Blairite reforms and funding to change the life chances of disadvantaged children. The teachers here are determined to make their pupils more inspirational.
Sir Peter Lampl is a government adviser who has sponsored 30 of Mr Blair's specialist schools over the past decade.
He supports many of the changes made to the education system. But he told Channel 4 News that Mr Blair has failed to open up the best schools for the disadvantaged, indeed with the top 200 comprehensive schools now virtual middle class havens, he says this route out of poverty is now closing.
Tony Blair's legacy to British society will be the subject of debate. His 10 years in office have been hugely redistrubtional.
Absolute poverty has increased
Hundreds of thousands of children, and pensioners have been taken out of poverty but as he leaves office, the record has gone into reverse. Absolute poverty actually increased this year.
His closest adviser says history will prove him right.
Yet the latest analysis of inequality done by the Institute of Fiscal Studies, likely to be confirmed in revised official figures next week, show inequality growing during the Thatcher and Major years and going up and down under Blair, but as he leaves office Britain is more unequal when he arrived.
I think it is a damning indictment -- less privileged -- and I think the reason for that is that electorally -- championing the less privileged and they've won three elections and Blair has probably been more conservatives than the conservatives look at the disparity in incomes.
