Opinion: Our crucial role in tackling inequality

By Nick Seddon, Third Sector, 4 June 2008

Last year, a report by the London School of Economics showed that parental background continues to exert a very powerful influence on the academic progress of children. By the age of seven, for instance, bright children from poor homes will be overtaken academically at school by less gifted pupils with wealthier parents. Worryingly, the UK ranks low on social mobility when compared with other advanced nations.

As for the nation's health, inequalities are getting worse. For three decades, commissions have reached the same conclusion: the health gap between those at the top and bottom of the social scale has widened. And the substantial evidence of inequitable provision within the NHS doesn't even take into account those...