Two-thirds (68%) of Britons say their background still affects how far they can go in their career – suggesting social mobility in the UK is stalling rather than improving, according to new research for Co-op. More than half (52%) also think businesses should treat social mobility as part of their wider diversity and inclusion commitments.
The findings highlight how many people believe bias in recruitment and a lack of professional networks continue to limit opportunity across the UK.
To help tackle this, Co-op has launched two free toolkits to make opportunities fairer for employers and jobseekers, offering practical steps to remove barriers linked to socioeconomic background.
The Social Mobility Employer Toolkit provides guidance for organisations to measure, understand and improve social mobility across their workforce.
Alongside it, the Employability Toolkit offers a free resource to help people who face barriers to work – such as young people, returners, refugees and those with convictions – to build confidence and develop job-ready skills.
The toolkit is freely available via Co-op’s website and will be shared with partner organisations, including through Co-op’s Levy Share and to Co-op Members, to reach people across the UK. A dedicated version is also being rolled out across Co-op Academies Trust to support students in disadvantaged areas.
Co-op also engaged young members in shaping the resource, with input from the Co-op Young Members Group helping to test and refine the content.
Research findings:
68% say background such as accent, family income or school affects career opportunities
Only 32% feel confident that employers genuinely care about social mobility
52% think businesses should treat social mobility as part of their wider DEI commitments
People believe the biggest barriers to progress for those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds are the cost of higher education (31%), bias in recruitment (28%) and lack of confidence or professional networks (25%).
Claire Costello, Chief People and Inclusion Officer at Co-op, said: “This research shows that background still plays too big a role in determining career success. Talent is everywhere, but opportunity is not. Every business can take steps to change that.
“Our new Employer Toolkit makes it easier for organisations to understand the socioeconomic gap in their workforce and take practical action to close it. At Co-op, access to opportunity is a core part of our Social Value Strategy, and we are showing that inclusion and productivity go hand in hand.”
Maree Moore, Associate Director of Organisational Learning, Talent and Inclusion at Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, said: “At Coca-Cola Europacific Partners we share Co-op’s commitment to improving social mobility and widening access to opportunity. The Co-op Employer Toolkit is a practical and valuable resource that helps businesses of all sizes take meaningful steps to understand and address inequality linked to socioeconomic background.”
Earlier research by YouGov for Co-op found that while over a third of businesses have a defined social mobility strategy, fewer than one in five currently treat it as a top priority*. A report by Demos in partnership with Co-op estimated that low social mobility costs the UK economy £19 billion a year in lost productivity**.
Co-op said stronger government action is needed to make social mobility measurable – including requiring large employers to publish data on colleagues’ socioeconomic background to track progress across every sector.
Co-op is calling on Government to explore how to incentivise and support employers to measure and publish data on the socioeconomic background of their workforce.
Employers and jobseekers can access the toolkits at coop.co.uk/social-mobility.
* Figures are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 1000 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 4th – 21st April 2025. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all UK businesses by size, sector and region.
** Based on an estimated private sector GDP of £1,250bn for 2023, 1.5% of this is around £19 billion. This is an estimate of what the impact would be if all businesses adopted five or more mobility strategies. The Opportunity Effect: How social mobility can help drive business and the economy forward is a collaborative report conducted by Co-op and Demos, with support from Landman Economics, Focal, Yonder and Opinium. The full report can be read here.
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