Migration and social mobility: The life chances of Britain’s minority ethnic communities

Drawing on data from the ONS Longitudinal Survey, this report traces patterns of intergenerational social mobility for children from different ethnic groups growing up in England and Wales. The study focuses on children born between the late 1950s and mid 1970s. Measures of their progress and class position are compared, for the first time, with those of their parents. The report therefore provides a unique insight into ‘parent-to-child’ class transitions across ‘first’ (immigrant) and ‘second’ generations. Taking advantage of the new question on religion in the 2001 Census, the report also asks whether patterns of intergenerational mobility vary by religious affiliation and whether religion can add to our understanding of ethnic group differences. Migration and social mobility is essential reading for all those wishing to know more about the extent and nature of ethnic minority achievement and disadvantage.