Social Mobility, Community and Family: changes in opportunity for British children over recent years

The Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission (www.gov.uk/smcpc) is inviting proposals for quantitative research into the changing relationship between social mobility, community and family circumstances. The question this research seeks to answer is: how have communities and families in Britain changed in ways that impact young people’s chances for social mobility?

In this research we seek to build on the themes developed by Professor Robert Putnam in his recent book ‘Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis’. These themes are: • The way in which communities supported opportunity for poor young people in the 20th century, compared to today.

For example, provision of extra-curricular activities. • The changing nature of family life and how they support life chances. For example the extent to which changing work and family patters impact the amount of ‘quality’ time poor children spend with their parents. • The differences in support less-well-off and better-off kids receive if they go ‘off track’ (i.e. tutoring support if they fall behind at school, health support if they become unwell or addicted). • How these trends have developed in different parts of the country.

Evidence for the relationship between communities, families and opportunity should be identified by quantitative methods. Because the question is potentially broad, bidders will need to recommend preferred sources of data and to focus the research on a limited number (around 5-10) of relevant issues.

The Commission seeks original, ambitious and robust proposals. Bids will be judged primarily on the proposed approach, expertise of team and value for money.