TUC calls for social class to be a greater priority for employers

The TUC is calling for social class to be added to the list of characteristics protected by equality legislation and for employers to report their class pay gaps.

In a new report, Building working class power, the TUC says its research shows that working class families have been hardest hit by austerity and that discrimination based on social class is still prevalent today.

It states that working class families have been hit hard by the pay crisis that started after the financial crash, with seven million employees in working class jobs such as care work and retail jobs having seen their pay flatline over the decade, while the highest earners have seen pay rises.

It adds that for families on less than average earnings, cuts to public services over the last decade have been worth over five percent of their annual incomes – compared to less than one per cent for above average earners.

And it says TUC analysis shows that graduates with parents in ‘professional and routine’ jobs are more than twice as likely as working-class graduates to start on a high salary, no matter what degree level they attain.

In addition to compulsory reporting of class pay gaps and the extension of equality legislation to include class, the TUC wants to see a legal duty introduced on public bodies to make tackling all forms of inequality a priority.

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