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What is social mobility?

Social mobility, by definition, refers to change in a person's socio-economic situation, either in relation to their parents or throughout their own lifetime.

For Professor Lee Elliott Major, it means going from leaving home at 15 to becoming Britain's first Professor of Social Mobility at Exeter University.

He tells Today's Amol Rajan: "The principle [of social mobility] really is your background should not determine whatever you do in life."

Five years ago he co-authored 'Social Mobility and its Enemies' and joined us to explore how UK society has fared since then.

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7 minutes