“A world of opportunity – and opportunity for all. It’s how we like to imagine the world we live in. But does inequality negatively affect your life chances? How will your education be affected by levels of inequality in the society where you live and grow up? This sign in Wolverhampton offered a tantalising message of hope and aspiration, but is it a misleading one?” Everyone agrees that education is important and beneficial to both companies and individuals. Although good educational systems make a difference, family origins are the factor that most influences academic achievement, and disadvantaged children succeed therefore less well in school and do not take advantage of the advantages that education.

In an analysis published in the journal The Lancet, and an analysis of the 50 states of the United States of America, published in the journal Social Science and Medicine, British epidemiologists Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett showed that the scores recorded in mathematics and reading are related to inequality. In addition, the percentage of children who leave secondary education in all 50 states of the United States of America is also linked to inequality.