The truth about ‘nepo baby’ is more sinister than you think

People on social media are defending their own work or projecting themselves as one of the world’s best, forcing them to walk through every closed door first.

I have been writing about social mobility for almost two decades and care deeply about it.

Am I happy to see this thread become the main character on Twitter? Of course not.

This debate is a shame.

It is disheartening to see such a complex, stressful and urgent matter turned into a series of ridiculous and stereotypical jokes.

The truth about privilege and economic success is far more complex than it can be summed up in a Twitter thread, but no one — from the government to the recalcitrant public — is willing to participate in the complexity. there.

“Discourse,” to create a nauseating phrase on social media, has become toxic.

If a working-class parent finds a starter job for their son or daughter at the local business where they clean the office, we’ll call it a promotion.

Why don’t we call it nepotism?

The term is now overloaded; it no longer describes this important aspect of opportunistic consolidation and how class stagnation works. Worse, it has become a term of personal abuse.

Video of the day

I appeared as a regular panelist on political podcasts God, what now?

In an episode released earlier this month, we were discussing the new winter of discontent and I revealed that my overwhelming support for the rail worker strike is partly due to coming from a railway family.

The presenter pushed me to learn more, but I steered the conversation in another direction. At the time, I was afraid that revealing that my father, before retiring, worked in the railway administration, and not as a driver or station manager, would suggest a lot to me. not true – possible assumptions. easily complicated by the fact that I currently work in the media field.

The anxiety about being yourself in public and the way social media users deliberately misrepresent each other for effect, means there’s a huge amount of heat but no light at all. public discussion of nepotism.

Another problem with social mobility is that we as individuals are not ready to accept the reality of a truly mobile society: there must be downward mobility as well as upward mobility.

Every parent seeks to protect their child from the harsh winds of economic change, more than ever, during the cost of living crisis.

Just as millions of working-class parents have pushed their children into college over the past three decades of expansion, so have middle-class families sought to protect their children from economic losses. .

It is the job of governments to address this reality, to legislate so that these natural, completely normal desires do not derail social mobility at the national level. There is little indication that the sitting British government, as well as the government-in-waiting of Keir Starmer, is actually willing to do this.

Two reports released this month underscore the extent of the stalemate.

First, a dubious study by the Sutton Trust concluded that requiring parents choosing private education to pay Vat for tuition fees would make the UK more unequal.

It argues that charging Vat will push upper-middle-class families, who have made significant financial sacrifices to access private schools, out of the system, making these schools available only to the super-class. international flowers.

Well, so what? Only about 7% of British children go to private schools.

If Vat reduces participation at home but creates a new funding source to support state school attendance for all, that is more likely to boost social mobility for the remaining 93%. – surely a much more important goal?

We’re not trying to uplift a handful of individuals with helpful social connections, are we?

Meanwhile, a study by KPMG found that social class is the biggest barrier to career growth.

The analysis looked at the career trajectories of 16,500 people and concluded that social inequality is costing the country £39 billion (€44.3 billion) a year.

KMPG currently reports its socioeconomic pay gap and has committed to recruiting 29% of its leadership from lower socioeconomic backgrounds by 2030, but it is one of the very few. make such a commitment.

Of course nepotism exists.

And of course it is corrosive. I have witnessed that often in my work.

I’m middle class, but as a public school student with no connections to the media, it took me a decade working in trade magazines to gain a foothold in the national press. ; at 40, I now work for colleagues who have better relationships in my mid to late 20s.

But we’re not going to erase any of this by mobilizing a social media crowd, just as we’re going to pretend that families can earn £25,000 a year per child to sending their children to private schools is not extremely rich. for political interests.

What is important is honesty. You can’t (and shouldn’t) stop parents from supporting their children, but you can be honest about how this distorts the job market and the economy, and you can bravely legislate to reduce it. minimize those impacts.

That’s my Christmas wish from one government or the next, but I’m afraid I’ll be disappointed.