State of the Nation 2022: Next steps
Updated 21 July 2022
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As we stated in the foreword, the innovative new metrics set out in this report are a starting point. But these are only the building blocks. We want the findings in the index to help identify specific successes or problems and we hope it will be widely used across government and the wider social mobility community.
We intend it to be a living, breathing index – one that will be improved year on year, as we improve our understanding of what works and what doesn’t; as we receive feedback from those working on the frontlines; and as we make progress in closing the data gaps we’ve identified. Crucially, we also want to look at how we can measure previously unmeasured factors such as culture.
Ultimately the data alone can suggest areas of focus and help us to measure success, but it does not in itself prescribe policy solutions. For these, the questions of talent and ability, families, culture and values will be crucial, and will need to help inform the priority areas we set out in the foreword:
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education
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employment
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enterprise and the economy
Our fresh approach will focus on the need for social mobility to be about opportunities for everyone, not just an elite few. So we will be looking at the wider range of factors which influence good social mobility outcomes – for individuals and wider society.
It is going to be a challenging 4 years, but an exciting challenge to be part of. We hope that at the end of them we will be able to show how we can all make a bigger difference.