Two-thirds (68%) of Britons say their background still affects how far they can go in their career, suggesting social mobility in the UK is stalling rather than improving, according to new research for Co-op.

More than half (52%) of the 2,000 people surveyed for the Co-op said they think businesses should treat social mobility as part of their wider diversity and inclusion commitments.

To address this issue, Co-op has launched two free toolkits to make opportunities fairer for employers and jobseekers, offering practical steps to remove barriers linked to socioeconomic background.

The Social Mobility Employer Toolkit provides guidance for organisations to measure, understand and improve social mobility across their workforce.

Alongside it, the Employability Toolkit offers a free resource to help people who face barriers to work – such as young people, returners, refugees and those with convictions – build confidence and develop job-ready skills.

“This research shows that background still plays too big a role in determining career success. Talent is everywhere, but opportunity is not. Every business can take steps to change that.”

Claire Costello, Chief People and Inclusion Officer, Co-op.

The toolkit is available via Co-op’s website and will be shared with partner organisations, including through Co-op’s Levy Share and to Co-op Members, to reach people across the UK.

A dedicated version is also being rolled out across Co-op Academies Trust to support students in disadvantaged areas. Co-op engaged young members in shaping the resource, with input from the Co-op Young Members Group, helping to test and refine the content.

“Our new Employer Toolkit makes it easier for organisations to understand the socioeconomic gap in their workforce and take practical action to close it. At Co-op, access to opportunity is a core part of our Social Value Strategy, and we are showing that inclusion and productivity go hand in hand,” added Costello.

Commenting on the initiative, Maree Moore, Associate Director of Organisational Learning, Talent and Inclusion at Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, said: “The Co-op Employer Toolkit is a practical and valuable resource that helps businesses of all sizes take meaningful steps to understand and address inequality linked to socioeconomic background.”

Co-op said stronger government action is needed to make social mobility measurable – including requiring large employers to publish data on colleagues’ socioeconomic background to track progress across every sector.

It is also calling on Government to explore how to incentivise and support employers to measure and publish data on the socioeconomic background of their workforce.