| “Inequalities in earnings and incomes are high in Britain, both compared with other industrialised countries, and compared with thirty years ago.” “Some of the widest gaps in outcomes between social groups have narrowed in the last decade, particularly between the earnings of women and men, and in the educational qualifications of different ethnic groups.” “However, there remain deep-seated and systematic differences in economic outcomes between social groups across all of the dimensions we have examined.” “Many of the differences we examine cumulate across the life cycle, especially those related to people’s socio-economic background. We see this before children enter school, through the school years, through entry into the labour market, and on to retirement, wealth and resources for retirement, and mortality rates in later life.” “A fundamental aim of people with widely differing political perspectives is to achieve ‘equality of opportunity’, but doing so is very hard when there are such wide differences between the resources which people and their families have to help them fulfil their diverse potentials.” “Despite recent improvements in results at age 16, there is a ‘long tail’ of low achievement amongst 16 year-olds (Fig. 2.1). The UK has lagged behind other countries in the proportion of the working age population with upper level secondary qualifications, especially among the generation now aged 25-34.” “A crucial factor in all of this – and also in the earnings of disabled people and those from certain minority ethnic groups – is the low level of part-time pay.” “The position of young people (aged under 25) in the labour market and in equivalent net income has declined both over the longer-term and in the last decade, for some because of longer periods in education, but not for others.” “The disability employment ‘penalty’ has grown steadily over the last quarter century. Disabled people with low or no qualifications have been particularly strongly affected, and more so than non-disabled people.” “Children entering primary school in 2005-06 whose mothers had degrees were assessed 6 months ahead of those who had no qualifications above Grade D at GCSE.” “Children with a higher social class background who start with a low assessment of relative cognitive ability when young eventually overtake those with a lower social class background who were initially assessed as having high ability.” “However one looks at the evidence on social mobility, it is clear that we live in a far from perfectly mobile society. People’s occupational and economic destinations in early adulthood depend to an important degree on their origins.” “We have found the material available on the position of the Gypsy and Traveller community very striking and of great concern.” “…economic advantage reinforces itself across the life cycle.” | 