Social Capital in the UK: Evidence from Six Billion Friendships

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Social capital - the value of social networks and relationships - is widely believed to impact people's critical life outcomes such as their social mobility and subjective wellbeing. Yet studying these network effects at scale has proven methodologically challenging. Using data on over 20 million Facebook users in the UK, we constructed measures of social capital including cross-class connectedness, network cohesion, and civic engagement. We found that UK social networks bridge class divides, with people below the median of the socioeconomic status distribution (low-SES people) having about half (47%) of their friendships with people above the median (high-SES people). These cross-class connections vary regionally but strongly predict upward mobility: low-SES children in the top 10% most economically connected local authorities earn 38% more annually (£5,100) as adults compared to those in the bottom 10%. Additionally, individuals with more high-SES connections and tighter social networks report higher levels of happiness and trust, alongside reduced isolation and social disconnection. Martin is a mixed-methods researcher in the Behavioural Insight Team's (BIT) Home Affairs and Social Cohesion team. He manages the Nuffield-funded 'Revealing Social Capital' project, a multi-partner programme that leverages large-scale social media data to examine how social networks influence life outcomes. These quantitative analyses are complemented by ethnographic research in communities to understand the drivers of social capital and participatory research to develop place-specific strategies for building it. Martin completed his MSc in Behavioural Science at the LSE before joining BIT.

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