Equal access to quality education key to social mobility

A report published today shows how social mobility in Ireland is well below the OECD average and largely dependent on the educational attainment of one's parents.

Today, the OECD published its 'Intergenerational Social Mobility: a family affair?' report, which said: "Well educated parents tend to have well educated children for whom it is easier to obtain well paid jobs. But the odds are stacked against children who do not benefit from this virtuous cycle." 

Research confirms that Ireland, along with southern European countries such as Greece and Italy, offers less educational mobility than the average OECD country. Nordic countries, on the other hand, were the most mobile of those surveyed. This, in turn, has a serious effect on overall social mobility. A separate OECD report released in 2009 supports these findings.

"There is a statistically significant probability...of achieving tertiary education associated with coming from a higher-educated family, while there is a...penalty associated with growing up in a lower-educated family...the penalty of coming from a low-educated family is particularly high in Ireland and Greece," stated the Intergenerational Social Mobility in European OECD Countries report, which was released in July of last year.

The issue of Ireland's social immobility has been raised consistently by opposition parties, notably in their European election manifestos of last year. The current government has denied that there is a link between educational attainment and social class.

The report also encourages a more diverse social mix within schools. Currently, facilities in Irish schools vary from area to area with disadvataged areas suffering because of a lack of access to top class facilities. The OECD report recommends that a more even provision of quality facilities and an increase in social diversity throughout the education system would “[boost] the performance of disadvantaged students without any apparent negative effect on overall performance [of the school]."

The report concludes by saying: "Policies that facilitate access to education of individuals from disadvantaged family backgrounds promote intergenerational wage mobility, and are also likely to be good for economic growth." 

Ireland was not the least socially mobile country surveyed. Italy, the US and in particular Great Britain all ranked poorly as regards both educational and social mobility. However, this report does confirm that inequality is still prevalent in Irish society, and that educational reform is the first step towards increasing overall social mobility.