Social Mobility

At our AGM in 2021 members called on us to ‘Campaign and advocate for change, to tackle the inequality we see today and challenge Government to address the root causes of these issues and enable social mobility throughout our society’.

We believe that fairness is central to social mobility; wherever you start should not determine where you end up. Putting this right is everyone’s responsibility. Whilst the Government has a leading part to play we must all – employers, schools, communities and individuals – step up to the challenge. We want to break the link between who you are and what you can become.

In July 2024 we published our first socioeconomic background pay gap report – the first UK retailer to do so. The report is an important step on from the work we began in 2023, in partnership with the charity Making the Leap, to better understand social mobility, inclusion and belonging for colleagues at our Co-op. It informed our work to address inequality within our business and, in turn, inspire change at a societal level.

Alongside the report, we also shared the progress we have made against our 2023 Social Mobility Commitments and set new, more challenging ones to maintain the momentum of our campaign. We continue to campaign for socioeconomic background to become the 10th protected characteristic under the Equalities Act 2010.

To encourage other employers to consider publishing their own Pay Gap reports, we worked with the Social Mobility Foundation to produce a ‘how to guide’. The report was published on ‘Class Pay Gap Day’ in November 2024.

We worked in partnership with a think tank, Demos, to produce new and compelling evidence into the potential economic impact of widespread employer action to promote social mobility. The key insight was that the UK economy could see a £19 billion boost. ‘The Opportunity Effect’ was launched at an event in Westminster, where the Minister for Employment, Alison McGovern MP, spoke alongside Shirine Khoury-Haq. The report included a number of recommendations to Government and actions for businesses. Advocating for these recommendations will continue into 2025.

We also supported a piece of research produced by the Ruskin Institute for Social Equality, ‘A different future – How business can reduce inequality’. This research suggested that businesses have an important role in reducing inequality and set out how Government can create the conditions in which businesses can act.

We see apprenticeships as an important means by which to promote social mobility, and we have continued to advocate for reform of the Apprenticeship Levy so that it delivers opportunities for all. Our advocacy included continued sponsorship of the All-Party Group on Apprenticeships in Parliament and providing oral and written evidence to Parliamentary Committees.

We continue to make progress on social mobility as measured by the Social Mobility Employers’ Index and in 2024 achieved 34th place – a leap of 10 places since the previous year and our highest ever placing. We’re the highest placed retailer in the index.