Featured in the Financial Times Best Books of the Year 2020

"The evidence is rigorously marshalled and the...solutions equally clearly illuminated. A definitive study." - Martin Wolf, Chief Economics Commentator, The Financial Times

In this vital new book, Britain′s first Professor of Social Mobility Lee Elliot Major and Stephen Machin, reveal the causes of the UK's low social mobility, explain why it′s getting worse, and outline how we reverse this worrying trend, before it's too late.

It covers the history of social mobility in the UK, explores international comparisons, analyses the recent 'dark age' of declining absolute mobility, and investigates issues such as how family traits affect inter-generational mobility. The authors then outline what it is we should do about this pressing issue. Calling for a fundamental shift in debates about social mobility and arguing that only by establishing general principles of fairness in society can we agree the major policy reforms that can make Britain a more mobile and just society for all.

The 'What Do We Know and What Should We Do About...?′ series offers readers short, up-to-date overviews of key issues often misrepresented, simplified or misunderstood in modern society and the media. Each book is written by a leading social scientist with an established reputation in the relevant subject area.

"Short, sharp and compelling." - Alex Preston, The Observer

"If you want to learn a lot about what matters most, in as short a time as possible, this is the series for you." - Danny Dorling, Halford Mackinder Professor of Geography, University of Oxford