In this report, we explore the extent of social integration within modern Britain. A recent study discovered that British people are 24 per cent more likely to go out of their way to help a stranger than citizens of other industrial nations, that volunteering is on the increase, and that we have emerged from the recession with some of the strongest social bonds in the developed world.

All of this is very positive news. Yet is modern Britain as socially integrated as it could be?

As the UK becomes increasingly diverse in terms of social grade, ethnicity and age, we believe that more research needs to be done on the extent of social integration in Britain. Researchers have suggested that increasing the number of meaningful social interactions between people who are different could lead to many positive outcomes for society, including increased levels of trust between people, better health outcomes, less social isolation and better outcomes for job seekers. We will explore these outcomes in detail in our second report.

In this report we have chosen to examine social integration particularly in relation to social grade, ethnicity and age. We accept that there are other important ways in which we are diverse which we have not been able to include in this report. We chose to look at social grade,ethnicity and age in particular because we are all defined by these groupings, and these groupings are large and distinct, and the diversity within them is increasing.

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