The Haves & the Have Nots

I can remember, in my first headship in 1979, teaching a class of Juniors & hearing screaming coming from the corridor. I rushed out of the class at top speed. The screaming was coming from the girls toilets. It was a new infant who had finished going to the toilet & who didn't know how to wipe her bottom & pull her pants up. That was how she attracted her mother's attention at home.

The Social Mobility Commission, chaired by Alan Milburn, published a report "State of the Nation 2016". It makes for shocking reading. 
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/state-of-the-nation-report-on-social-mobility-in-great-britain

In the last decade, 500,000 poorer children were not considered school-ready - out of nappies and able to dress themselves - by age five. Having the necessary social & communication skills to be able to listen & learn is on the distant horizon for many of our 5 year olds.

In 40 local authority areas, one third of all employee jobs are paid below the Living Wage. 

More than half the adults in Wales, the North East, Yorkshire and the Humber, the West Midlands and Northern Ireland have less than £100 in savings.

Why are we surprised at the anti-establishment mood that resulted in the Brexit vote and is believed to have swept Donald Trump to power in the US? Social mobility is the best antidote to the growth of political populism whether of right or of left that we are now experiencing. How can you have social mobility if you don't have reasonable educational attainment & educational opportunity for the majority of young people? 

Whole sections of society and areas of Britain feel left behind. We are an 'us and them' society,  A few have power and wealth, a great many just have problems getting by. It is deeply corrosive and divides nations.

I'm a "Have". I'm very lucky. I had a good education - free. I got qualifications which delivered a well paid professional career. We could afford to buy a house & move up the housing ladder. We were financially secure for life with good pensions. We prospered.

The trouble is that the "Haves" are not prepared to give a little to improve the lot of the "Have Nots". They want to hang on to everything they have got.