This rises to £7,042 for women from working-class backgrounds when compared to those from professional backgrounds.
This “shameful secret” among Britain’s workplaces has been exposed in a new report from the Social Mobility Foundation.
It found that professional workers from professional backgrounds receive an average salary of £51,728 compared to those from working-class backgrounds, who earn an average of £45,737.
Rt. Hon Alan Milburn, chair of the Social Mobility Foundation, said: “A fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work is the least anyone should expect.
“But too many of Britain’s workplaces share a shameful secret. It cannot be right that professionals from working-class backgrounds are paid significantly less than their peers in the same occupation.”
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Class Pay Gap Day
Today marks the Foundation’s Class Pay Gap Day, the day which those from working-class backgrounds effectively work for free for the rest of the year, when their salaries are compared to those from professional backgrounds.
In the private sector, where 82% of the UK’s workforce sit, the gap was larger, with those from working-class backgrounds paid £7,575 less per year than someone from a professional background.
Outside of the private sector workers from working-class backgrounds are paid an average of £4,750 less.
The Foundation also found that 72% of those aged 16 to 18 were put off applying for jobs in elite professions such as law or finance by the class pay gap. While 89% said they would be more enthusiastic about working for a company that prioritised social mobility.
‘Businesses need diversity of talent and thought’
Kevin Ellis, senior partner at PwC UK, said: “The gap in pay between professionals from a lower socio-economic background and their more privileged peers, is not only a societal issue but an issue for business and the economy.
“Businesses need diversity of talent and thought. We’ve seen the benefits of improving the diversity of our workforce – you can’t measure this without collecting socioeconomic background data. Gathering data helps you understand what interventions to make because these changes don’t happen naturally.
“We always strive to do more – so it’s positive to see other employers now starting to collect data and making efforts to close their socioeconomic background pay gaps.”