Family, far more than school, shapes children's outcomes, writes CRISTINA ODONE
When Lee Elliot Major wants his audience’s attention, he tells them that when it comes to social mobility, we spend 80 per cent of our time obsessing about what happens in schools — and only 20 per cent on what goes on in the home. Actually it should be the other way around. Elliot Major, the UK’s first Professor of Social Mobility, never fails to stir his listeners, because his message runs counter to the official mantra which, since the days of Tony Blair, claims children’s development is down to education, education, education. In truth, family, far more than school, shapes children’s outcomes — a fact of life at the heart of the Family Review, which will be published by the Children’s Commissioner, Dame Rachel de Souza, today. She weighs in on the side of Professor Elliot Major, urging our next prime minister to put the family at the very heart of policy. Cristina Odone (pictured) writes: When Lee Elliot Major wants his audience’s attention, he tells them that when ...