Social mobility stalls after the front door

A new report calls for mid-career support to address social mobility. This is the intervention that Socially Mobile has sought to address in the public relations industry since the Community Interest Company was launched in 2021.

One of the most significant insights in the Social Mobility Commission’s State of the Nation 2025 report is not about access, but about what happens next. In the UK, social mobility stalls after entry points have been crossed.

This aligns closely with what Socially Mobile sees in public relations practice. Over the past decade, access initiatives have expanded. More young people from lower socio-economic backgrounds are entering higher education and professional work. Yet outcomes remain unequal.

The blockage, according to the Social Mobility Commission, is no longer primarily at the school gate or the university admissions office; it is in early-career work quality, progression pathways, and the wider economic conditions that shape who can stay, advance and accumulate advantage.

The Commission explicitly highlights the growing importance of intermediate outcomes (including early labour-market experiences and career progression) as predictors of long-term mobility, noting that these outcomes are worsening for younger cohorts (p.19-20)

The report shows that fewer than half of adults now earn more than their parents did at the same age, a significant decline since the financial crisis. The Commission attributes this to wage stagnation, housing pressures and the increasing role of inherited rather than earned wealth, describing a growing “stickiness” at both the top and bottom of the income distribution (p.9-10)

At Socially Mobile, we have learnt from our students that the early-career stage is where mobility is most often lost. Entry into professional roles does not guarantee upward mobility.

Graduates from less advantaged backgrounds are more likely to start on lower pay, progress more slowly and exit professions altogether. The report reinforces this by showing persistent socio-economic gaps in access to professional and managerial roles and weaker progression outcomes even among those who enter higher-skilled occupations (p.14-15)

Informal promotion practices, opaque progression criteria and workplace cultures that reward social capital as much as capability compound these outcomes. Yet these dynamics remain largely absent from mainstream social mobility policy.

This is the policy gap that Socially Mobile exists to address. We support practitioners in developing skills and networks that enable progression from functional to managerial roles. The outcomes from the 10-week executive programme show that targeted mid-career intervention can shift trajectories.

The UK does not face a social mobility problem because too few people get in. It faces a social mobility problem because too many people cannot move on. We are here to address that issue within the public relations sector.

Reference

Social Mobility Commission (2025). State of the Nation 2025: The evolving story of social mobility in the UK. London: HM Government.