Does social mobility matter to Economists?

Social mobility (or apparent lack of it) has been in the news again recently. I suppose that this won’t be a surprise given the success of the incumbent Conservative Government during the General Election and the topic could become a major theme of the Opposition challenge over the next 5 years.

The chair of the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission, Alan Milburn, claims that many top firms are recruiting too heavily from a labour-pool that is privately educated at the expense of bright young people from poorer backgrounds. There is even a claim that employment opportunities are dependent on your accent – with the unique tones of the Birmingham suburbs being the least liked by employers.