Research shows that people from lower socio-economic backgrounds face discrimination in education and in the workforce. Here’s why we need to change the law to drive social mobility…
As a high-earner, living in an affluent area of Essex, Saleha Patel has come a long way from free school meals and growing up as part of a family of six, on a council estate in Bolton.
Saleha, 35, has a Masters and PhD and worked in the pharmaceutical industry for years, before moving into bio-technology.
But as someone who describes herself as ‘lucky to escape’ a disadvantaged background, Saleha is among a swell of professionals shining a light on the challenges of social mobility in the UK.
Take a Break has teamed up with The British Psychological Society to reignite the #Makeit10 campaign, calling for a renewed focus on making socio-economic background a protected characteristic.
The Equality Act 2010 enshrines nine protected characteristics – age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation.
This is to ensure that an individual is not disadvantaged on these grounds in the workplace or in wider society.
But socio-economic background isn’t represented, despite a vast amount of research providing compelling evidence that people from lower socio-economic backgrounds face systemic barriers in many areas of life, including at school, in higher education, and in the workplace – where class discrimination can affect recruitment, promotions, pay, and access to training and development opportunities.
For example, the ‘class pay gap’ sees professionals from working class backgrounds being paid an average of £6287 less per year than their more privileged counterparts in the same occupation, according to research commissioned by the Social Mobility Foundation.
Dr Bridgette Rickett, who led the #Makeit10 campaign when it first launched, says, ‘A “class ceiling” hinders those from low socio-economic backgrounds from enjoying equivalent career progression and earnings to their upper-middle-class peers.
‘There are 10 times more senior leaders in UK employment from middle and upper-class backgrounds, than from working-class backgrounds.’
A 2022 study carried out by KPMG, where the career paths of more than 16,500 employees and partners were analysed over a five-year period, revealed that individuals from lower socio-economic backgrounds took, on average, 19% longer to progress compared to those from higher socio-economic backgrounds.
The study also showed that class and socio-economic background had the most significant impact on career progression, compared to any other diversity characteristic.
Saleha says, ‘Out of all the labels I have – female, non-white, neurodiverse (Saleha has ADHD and autism) – I would say my socio-economic status has had the biggest impact on my education, career and the opportunities I’ve had access to.’
Saleha is the eldest of four. Her mum worked at home while caring for her and her siblings, and her father worked at a factory, and later, on the forecourt of a petrol station.
She says, ‘My parents struggled to put food on the table and prioritised feeding us over themselves. I watched them stress about the cost of school uniforms, or finding £20 to send me on the school field trip.’
Saleha and her siblings were academically gifted.
But they had no internet at home, and Saleha stayed late after school to use the computer, and studied at the library on weekends.
When it came to applying to university, she says, ‘I thought, How will I afford it, especially if I go to uni? I feared I’d end up in huge debt and put financial pressure on my parents.’
A teacher told Saleha about The Sutton Trust, a charity that champions social mobility and runs programmes to support high-attaining students from lower income homes across the UK.
'Which school did you go to?'
Saleha was accepted on to the charity’s summer school, which allowed her to spend a week at a partner university and experience student life.
She learnt how to apply for bursaries and realised that while she would incur debt, her chosen career path would prove financially worth it.
But when she later headed off to university in York, Saleha faced further challenges with coming from a low socio-economic background.
She says, ‘Lots of my peers had a very different experience to me growing up, and I felt uncomfortable about my background.’
Everyone kept asking, ‘Which school did you go to?’ and it took her a while to realise this was a way to gauge her background.
‘My new peer group was not like anything I’d grown up with,’ she says. ‘My experiences were completely different, to the point
where it made people uncomfortable – I’d grown up on a council estate, and my peers were talking about ski trips and ponies.’
She was often picked up on her accent.
Saleha says, ‘Peers kept asking me to repeat myself and told me, “I can’t understand what you’re saying”. I felt I needed to learn how to speak properly, whatever “properly” might be.’
Alongside her studies, she worked late into the evenings and on weekends to help fund her time at uni.
She says, ‘I needed to work and study at the cost of socialising, and it’s that networking that trains you in how to behave, how to dress the same as them, have the same hobbies and talk like them. That’s what will help you move up in your career, or even get your first job.’
During her Masters, she undertook a six-month research placement in London. A studentship covered the cost of her studies, but she had to take on extra work to help pay her living costs.
At the end of the course, an external examiner spoke with her about the placement. Saleha mentioned the financial challenges and explained her background. She was shocked by the examiner’s response.
She says, ‘The feedback he gave me was, “You don’t look like somebody from a low socio-economic background. You dress well and you speak well”. I couldn’t believe he’d said that to me. When I came out, I had a little cry in the corridor. But my peers couldn’t understand why it upset me.’
Navigating through the system has taught Saleha that the UK is not a meritocracy.
She says of herself and her siblings, ‘We all thought working hard would make us successful – but in reality, it’s working smarter, having networks and knowing how to play the “class game” that actually gets you ahead.’
Supporting Take a Break and The British Psychological Society’s campaign for class to be made a protected characteristic, Saleha says, ‘It would enable new policy, increase awareness, and allow employers to work together with the Government and the education system in a formalised way to address social economic injustice.
‘Within my sector, no one is even talking about socio-economic diversity, it’s not even recognised as a barrier.
‘I’ve seen company goals in relation to gender balance and ethnic representation at leadership levels, and much of this is in response to feeling obliged to address it.
‘If class was a protected characteristic, it would validate it as something important to be addressed, and create deliberate action.’
Take Action
The #Makeit10 campaign advocates for the inclusion of social class as a protected characteristic under the Equality Act, expanding the current nine protected characteristics to include social class. To get involved, you can contact your local representatives and MP to voice your concerns, or share your stories about class-based discrimination by emailing laura.riddell@bauermedia.co.uk
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