A comprehensive examination of social mobility and education in Britain that exposes prevailing misconceptions of social mobility in decline.

Introduction; 1. Social class as the context of social mobility; 2. Class mobility in absolute terms: the end of the Golden Age; 3. Class mobility in relative terms: resistance to change; 4. The pattern of social fluidity within the class structure: hierarchy, inheritance and status effects; 5. Education and social mobility: the OED triangle; 6. Social origins, ability and educational attainment: is there a wastage of talent?; 7. Education and the labour market: is education now class destiny?; 8. Origins versus education: are there 'glass floors' and 'glass ceilings'?; 9. Lifelong learning: compensation or cumulative advantage?; 10. Social mobility in Britain in comparative perspective: is Britain a low mobility society?; Conclusions.

Erzsébet Bukodi is an Associate Professor in Quantitative Social Policy and Professorial Fellow of Nuffield College, University of Oxford. She is also a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for New Economic Thinking, Oxford Martin School.