Friendships that bridge wealth divides help social mobility, study finds

Children from poorer families growing up amid a mix in income groups are likely to earn more as adults

Friendships that bridge economic divides are good for social mobility, a major study has found, with low-income children growing up where there is more mixing among income groups likely to earn an extra 5,100 a year as adults.

The research, combining anonymised Facebook data covering 20 million adults in the UK with official data, points to the benefits of what the authors call more economically connected communities".