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Brown focusing on social mobility Brown's social mobility 'crusade'
(about 2 hours later)
Gordon Brown has said low-income parents who take action to support their child's development will be eligible for a £200 grant. Gordon Brown has said improving social mobility in Britain is a "national crusade" and admitted Labour had not yet made enough progress.
The one-off payment is part of the PM's vision of increasing fairness and social mobility, in what Downing Street describes as a major policy speech. In a speech the prime minister said making Britain more "upwardly mobile" was a "great moral endeavour".
There will also be pilot schemes to help tackle child poverty. He announced a £200 grant for deprived families in England who joined schemes to improve children's development.
Mr Brown said speeding up social mobility and educational performance was "the highest priority". Tory leader David Cameron said Mr Brown had failed to focus on "elements of our society that are broken".
Mr Brown said the Child Development Grants would be an incentive for parents to attend and take up services in children's centres, while their children were very young. In a speech to education figures in Westminster, Mr Brown described himself as "a child of the first great wave of post-war social mobility" but said that these advances stalled in the 1970s and 1980s, with a "lost generation" of "Thatcher's children" left behind.
Skills boost 'Not enough'
During his speech he stressed that the government's plans would only succeed if people made the most of the opportunities available to them and "participate fully in shaping the future". He said Labour had narrowed the gap in schools between social classes.
He will make £5m available to provide financial incentives for both parents to work, because research suggests that children are 60% less likely to be in poverty when both parents have jobs. But he added: "Although we have already lifted hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty with new tax credits, more people in work, and better public services, the latest figures show we have not made enough progress."
He added: "We will not deny or explain away the figures. We will take them as a spur to action, a call to conscience."
We must set a national priority to aggressively and relentlessly develop the potential of the British people Gordon BrownWe must set a national priority to aggressively and relentlessly develop the potential of the British people Gordon Brown
A further £7.6m will be used to create 30 children's centres across 10 local authorities to help parents with training and work experience to boost their skills and help them into work. Mr Brown said there would be a White Paper on social mobility by the end of the year, and announced pilot projects to tackle child poverty - for example by a one-off £200 child development grant for parents to attend and take up services in new children's centres.
And up to £10m will be invested in helping mothers in London overcome high childcare and transport costs which act as "particular barriers" to their return to work. It will be trialled in ten areas in England based on a scheme from New York, where parents are rewarded for activities like making sure their children attend health check-ups and get jabs.
Ministers will also unveil a £12.75m series of schemes to combat child poverty - including grants of about £200 for low-income parents if they take up childcare places and do more to support their families' development. Mr Brown also said he wanted to double the number of Teach First placements - which put "the most able" graduates in the toughest city schools for two years.
'Work ethic' Two-year-olds in the most disadvantaged areas would be offered free nursery places, he also said.
And at least £20m will be available through local authority grants to tackle the causes of child poverty, particularly in remote rural areas and deprived inner city communities. Aspirations raised
"Social mobility usually starts with parents wanting their children to do better than they did themselves," Mr Brown said. Some £5m is to be made available to provide financial incentives for both parents to work, because research suggests that children are 60% less likely to be in poverty when both parents have jobs.
"But it cannot be achieved without the young people themselves adopting the work ethic, the learning ethic, and aiming high."
HAVE YOUR SAY Bring back grammar schools and free university education for working class students Julie Kettle, London Send us your comments
Mr Brown described himself as "a child of the first great wave of post-war social mobility" but said that these advances stalled in the 1970s and 1980s, with a "lost generation" subsequently left behind.
He outlined plans to try to improve social mobility, including better provision for the under-fives, plus greater support for families and young adults.
Injustice must be tackled, prejudice and discrimination removed and children's aspirations raised, the prime minister added.Injustice must be tackled, prejudice and discrimination removed and children's aspirations raised, the prime minister added.
HAVE YOUR SAY Bring back grammar schools and free university education for working class students Julie Kettle, London Send us your comments
"Raising social mobility in our country is a national crusade in which everyone can join and play their part," he said.
He said Britain had to be "far more upwardly mobile", adding: "At its core, this is a great moral endeavour."He said Britain had to be "far more upwardly mobile", adding: "At its core, this is a great moral endeavour."
And he said changes in the wider global economy, which would open up "potentially unlimited opportunities", meant "we must set a national priority to aggressively and relentlessly develop the potential of the British people".
The Sutton Trust, which funds projects that provide educational opportunities for children from underprivileged backgrounds, has previously said the government's education policy fails to give poorer children the chance to improve quality of life.The Sutton Trust, which funds projects that provide educational opportunities for children from underprivileged backgrounds, has previously said the government's education policy fails to give poorer children the chance to improve quality of life.
'Blocked' mobility
A study conducted for the trust last year concluded that the decline in social mobility seen during the 1970s and 1980s has now flattened off, but shows no sign of reversing.A study conducted for the trust last year concluded that the decline in social mobility seen during the 1970s and 1980s has now flattened off, but shows no sign of reversing.
Speaking at the time of the Sutton Trust's report, Conservative leader David Cameron said there was "a problem of fairness" in the UK. Conservative leader David Cameron said Mr Brown was wrong to blame Margaret Thatcher for inequalities.
"Children who are leaving school now have been at school under a Labour government for the entire period, at primary and secondary school," he said.
He argued that social mobility was "blocked" because the government had not opened up secondary education, had not adopted tough welfare reforms and not properly addressed drug abuse and homelessness.
"They have not properly focused on elements of our society that are broken," he said.
Child Poverty Action Group chief executive Kate Green said Britain was "in the grip" of a "damaging culture of inequality".
She said: "It is gross inequality that is the enemy of opportunity and social mobility. It is Britain's exceptional gap between the richest and poorest that has created a gulf that can no longer be navigated."